The Mistress of Fire, The King of Nightmares
by The Garbage Goddess
Summary: A story about the war between two companies, a rebel team wanting to serve justice, and people from other dimensions looking for a new king. A timid boy possesses a power to destroy. A girl has the ability to manipulate fire. A cheerful individual who communicates with nature. A being made entirely out of chaos. They are a group of traitors who hunt "Numbers" to restore the city.
1. Chapter 1: White Moon

**Me: This is an AU of "Black and White" and "Barian Rebel Group/Little Astral Child". I'm planning on re-writing "Little Astral Child" with some stuff from BRG, meaning, they'll be the same fanfic. Of course, baby Astral will make an appearance too, along with the BRG!**

**Rinko: Back to the point, this is a fanfic, centered around me and my brother, Ethan. The characters, plus relationships, are from BW, but some of the characters are from BRG and "Execution", such as Miharu or Hokai. Basically, all of Ao's OCs from different AUs, mixed up together, to make another AU.**

**Mishka: This AU has dueling, too! Ao's been practicing how to type duel scenes, and.. er, they're decent, I guess. Anyway! In this AU, everything from the canon Zexal still exists! Except Barian World, and Astral World..but some duelists here have rare powers, plus numbers, and stuff like that.**

**Ethan: This has to be the most confusing thing we have ever explained.. We do not own Zexal, or any of it's characters and cards. Some characters are Ao's, though. This is practically based off a weird idea Ao had.**

* * *

It was another destructive and quite noisy day at Heartland City, the city of destruction and death. There wasn't a peaceful day that had passed in the city, and it would be a miracle if there was. The place was covered with walls, and secured by a thousand guards, so nobody could escape the polluted city. There had to be a hundred people always being sent to the hospital daily, because of how filthy the city was. Heck, even the doctors and nurses don't mind not being payed anymore, as long as it meant surviving with the rest of the innocent people at the city.

The city had two dueling companies. Both of them were always fighting with each other, competing who was better. They were obviously fighting for rare cards called "numbers". They were cards that were rumored to give whoever collected all of them enormous power, and that was why those two companies always battled to the death for them.

The first company's name is "White Moon". The boss of the stated dueling company is Eliphas Origin, a stuck-up, serious, and "grumpy" man. He always appeared to wear his golden armor. As stated, he was very serious, and was obsessed with perfection. Most of his soldiers have become as stoic as he is, but some remained the same. He couldn't care less, as long as his soldiers were collecting the numbers, and defeating the rival company.

The other company's name is "Black Star". The boss is Don Thousand, a threatening, insane, but laid-back man. He never takes anything too seriously, unless it involved the numbers. His main attire consisted of everything black and red, and unlike Eliphas, showed much more emotions. Most of his soldiers have acted a lot like him, and started by always mocking the "weak ones". Like Eliphas, he didn't care in the slightest.

Both companies had been fighting for years now, and they were betting their soldiers, plus the innocent people, for the power of the numbers. No one had dared to step foot inside the destructive city, and no one had even attempted to escape.

The city was locked, and the people had lost hope of the city being peaceful, clean, and quiet.

* * *

**-White Moon, Floor 12: Dormitory Section D-**

Most of the soldiers had just finished training, so they were doing their own business. Others were just making plans, others were fixing their deck, and others were simply doing their hobbies. And not a single person was relaxing, as it seemed.

Three teens made their way across the busy floor. All at same age, they were close with each other, even though their were a couple more teens their age. One of them was quiet, and was simply following his two friends, one was annoyed at the noisy buzzing of the people, and one was just happy. Happy to have a little break from their number hunting.

"C'mon guys!" The happy teen grinned. "It's break time! We could visit Kotori in the medical station, or hand out with Alit at the training room! Stop being so serious all the time guys!"

The other teens stared at the happy teen. The quiet teen nodded slowly, shyly smiling. "Y-yes.. Yuma's right, Rinko.. maybe we could be a bit laid-back? If we don't, exhaustion might be the cause of our deaths, right?"

The annoyed teen, Rinko, huffed. "Am I literally the only one here who remembers our break time only lasts for ten minutes? That's not enough time to do your damn business in the toilet! The only thing we can do at break time is eat a cracker, take a sip of a bottle of water, and stare at your cards for the remaining time!"

Yuma wasn't shocked by Rinko who had just snapped. Rinko was quite the short-tempered one, but he had gotten used to it. Rinko was probably like that due to the abuse and taunts she received as a child.. "Rinko, don't be too cranky! You're gonna make Kotori and Astral worried! Look at the poor guy! He's probably scared right now!"

Rinko had turned to see their quiet friend, Astral, shivering. Unlike Yuma, he wasn't used to seeing Rinko throw too many tantrums and yell a lot of curses. He was probably the only soldier here who was easily scared. Rinko felt a bit guilty for scaring the youngest teen in the group, so she sighed, and mumbled an apology for her outburst.

Astral faked a smile, hopeful to make Rinko ease her guilt. "N-No worries! B-Break time is almost over, so let's continue our chat on the elevator, shall we? S-Sir Eliphas doesn't like it when soldiers are late, after all.."

As Astral pretended to happily make his way to the elevator, both Yuma and Rinko felt incredibly angry with their boss, Eliphas, right now. The three teens, plus Kotori, Alit, and their missing friend, were the best of friends, before the numbers appeared. When those cursed cards appeared, their freedom and happiness were taken away from them.

During that time, when people that were sensed as "decent enough to gather numbers" duelists, they were kidnapped from their friends and family, for the sole purpose of collecting the numbers.

Yuma was taken away from his happy family. He had heard his mother became very depressed of hearing of her son's capture, and had died. His grandmother was weak at that time too, so she had probably already left.. His father was still alive, and he was helping the innocent people hide and heal. As for his sister.. he didn't know.

Rinko was abused by her parents, and neglected by a couple of her female classmates, for playing a "scary and boyish FIRE deck". She had heard one time while eavesdropping from her parents that she had a sibling, that was separated from them during a boat trip. Her parents were too devastated, and decided to put the blame on her, as her sibling had in fact, sacrificed himself or herself to save her. She didn't know what gender her sibling was, or who they were.. but she was probably happy that the company took her away from her insane parents. But she was angry that the company made her friends, who she considered family, suffer from collecting numbers.

Astral was an orphan, though. His mother had died of giving birth to him, and his father had left him for another family. But Astral had an older brother, who always protected him, and acted like a parent. Unfortunately, when Astral was taken away from his brother, the shock was too much, and he had forgotten everything about him. What's worse was Astral was the weakest one in their group, so he could probably die from any sickness any second.

Kotori wasn't much of a duelist, and was better at aiding her friends after a serious duel. So she was captured, and was positioned as the nurse. She didn't mind, as long as her friends were alive and well. Her father had died during a plane crash, and her mother.. was probably worried sick about her, along with the other innocent people.

Alit was as good as Yuma, but he was put in the training department, and was positioned to train duelists. He didn't mind his job, because he got to make sure his friends, plus the other soldiers, were safe enough to be sent to a number war. He had a big crush on Kotori, and was flirty with every girl he met, minus Rinko.

Their other friend, who wasn't with them at the moment, was named Vector Shingestsu, nicknamed as "Rei". He was bipolar, because he was torn by his parent's decisions of raising him. His father had wanted him to be rough, rude, and "manly", but his mother had wanted him to be gentle, polite, and "a bit clumsy". So, he decided to make another self, for the sake of his parent's wishes. He was currently missing, and the friends didn't know if he was at the other company, or with the innocent people.

Rinko and Yuma had made their way to the elevator with Astral leading the way. Before they went in, they found two of their older friends, Taimi and Haruki, chatting.

Taimi was a mature girl, by the age of seventeen. She had a little brother, who she knew was at the other company. She and her brother were raised outside the city, before they aged by ten. That explained why they were both ninja-like in so many ways. Taimi was quite playful, seductive, and bit of a pervert, but she acted like a good big sister to Astral, as she was very close to his brother. Too close that people often mistook Astral's brother and Taimi as a couple!

Haruki was a mysterious older boy, who met Rinko at school. He acted like a brother figure to Rinko, and was as polite as Astral. He was nice to everyone, and acted a like a gentleman. Haruki also happened to know Astral's brother and Yuma's sister, so he acted like a sibling to both boys too. As for Alit and Vector, he was as playful as them.

"Hello, Taimi-neechan!" Astral greeted happily. "Hello to you too, Haruki-niichan!"

The older teens found Astral's greeting adorable, and they returned a smile. "Hello, Astral-kun!"

Haruki then turned to Rinko and Yuma. "Hello to you too, Yuma-kun, Rinko-chan."

"Yo." Was all Rinko replied, her arms crossed. "Same to you too, Taimi."

"What's up, guys!" Yuma happily greeted. "It's good to see you guys are doing well!"

The group occupied themselves by talking inside the elevator, waiting for them to be dropped down at the basement. Of course, Yuma was preparing himself for another boring speech made by Eliphas himself.

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**Me: That's it for first chapter! Taimi is from BW, while Haruki is from BRG/LAC. Both OCs from different AUs are friends, ah-hah!**

**Rinko: Next chapter will present the members of Black Star. Presenting: Dark, Ethan, Akari, Tairo, and Hidenagi. Mentioned: Ryoga, Rio, and Mishka.**

**Review if ya like!**


	2. Chapter 2: Black Star

**Me: Second chapter's up! I think I was a bit cruel to Rinko and Astral. Imagine; You had a sibling you never knew you had, who died to save your life, but your parents, who loved your older sibling so much, decided to put the blame on you. Now; Imagine your mom died and your father went to another family, with your older sibling the only one taking care of you. But, you were kidnapped, and you can't even remember a single thing about your sibling.**

**Haruki: I will be quite honest, Ao-san. I cannot see the sadness..**

**Taimi: Ah-hah! Hide-kun is a heartless monster! You cruel, heartless, emotionless, gentle-manly, polite monster!**

**Haruki: ...Thank you, I guess? We do not own Zexal in any way possible. Characters belong to their original owners. Please, do enjoy.**

* * *

**-Black Star, Floor 1: Lobby-**

Another number hunt had went well for the black haired boy. He managed to get a number from a passerby, who claimed he had no idea it was there. Not just that, be he gained.. quite a bit of information about a "resistance" or "number protection group" from the man he had dueled. Maybe it was worth to report to Rio, who reports to Ryoga, who reports to the boss? Eh. He'd do it after dinner. First, he desperately needed a bath.

He jumped when a voice suddenly spoke up next to him. "Had a rough day, Dark?"

Dark saw his older friend, Akari, standing next to him. He sighed in relief. "You surprised me, Ms. Akari. I thought it was Mishka.. you know how she pops up anywhere at a random time! Usually to me.."

Akari chuckled. Dark was quite a sight for younger women, and that probably explained his group of fangirls. "I think she likes you. Mishka seems to like you a lot, and likes to shove a lot of pastries she steals from the canteen to your face. Then again.." Akari's smile turned into a smirk. "Shikuro-chan might get jealous! After all.. she's close with you and Astral, right? You can't deny that she likes you a ton! Besides, Mishka's a year younger than you, and Taimi's two years older than you.. do you prefer younger or older women?"

Dark blushed uncontrollably. "I-I'm not interested at anyone in the moment!" He denied. But, his softened when he remembered his little brother, Astral. How was he? Was he at White Moon, or was he with the normal people? Hopefully the latter. He'd die if Astral was a duelist at White Moon. Of course, he couldn't deny Astral was strong as a duelist. He had personally trained him, after all. But.. Astral was physically weak. One little playful punch might get him sent to the hospital!

Akari seemed to notice how quiet Dark had become. Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned Astral's name at all. Everyone in the company knew how much Dark loved his little brother. "Shouldn't have said that.. but, who knows.. maybe he's safe with Yuma and the rest! You know how my brother and your brother cling to each other all the time!"

Dark nodded slowly, and went towards the elevator. "Ms. Akari, tell Rio and Ryoga I have something to report to them after dinner, and that I'm really busy at the moment. I'll just take a quick bath, and fix my deck." And maybe he should drop of the number he just got. "Also, can you give this Number card to Rio? You know Ryoga doesn't want any guy too near her.. he'll kill anyone."

"Sure thing. But, I won't be attending the training session with you guys. I'm going to have to help Mishka arrange her deck, and maybe change a few of her cards." Akari said. "But good luck! Then again, you guys are really tough, even when you're just cute little kids."

Dark huffed at that statement, and marched to the elevator, practically ignoring everyone that asked him the most important question; "Why do you look so filthy..?" Well, if the duelist he was fighting was less stubborn, maybe he could have got the number clean, and not covered with mud or even stains of blood right now! Plus, he smelled awful.. Oh yeah. The man he dueled pour vinegar on him, for no apparent reason.

Ugh. He smelled like Taimi's cooking. That woman couldn't even boil water.

Although, he hoped that wherever Astral was, it was either Taimi or Haruki taking care of him. Tairo always told him that Taimi is at the other company, since they were separated when the companies were collecting duelists all around. Seriously, no one would ever want to see something like that happen again. Helicopters flooded the sky, and numerous people in either black or white just scooped up people they deemed "decent". He remembered that it was a school day when that happened, so he wasn't with his brother..

Great. Now he doesn't even know if his brother's at the other company, or simply hiding with the normal people in the outside world. They're gonna have to die collecting numbers in this damn building, which had over ninety-nine floors. And about a hundred soldiers. And maybe had every card imaginable, except for..

_Numbers._

He hated those damn cards so much, he wished he could burn them. They were the reason he and his friends were trapped here. They were the reason they were taken from their family. They were the reason why many innocent people died, at the hands of the company's soldiers. They were the reason..

For everything that had happened to his brother.

Who knows what could have happened to him? Maybe he wielded a number card, and a White Moon or Black Star duelist dueled him for it? What if he surrendered it? Would he be spared? What if he was stubborn, and refused to give up the cursed card? Maybe he dueled? He could have won, but as much as Dark hated to admit it, the soldiers of both companies were tough as hell..

_"Stay positive, Daruku. It's better to trust Tairo's theory of Astral with Taimi at the other company. Taimi is a nice woman, after all.. she'd look out for him, right? And maybe Haruki too! Haruki is really friendly! They'd take care of Astral!"_

"...Daruku-san?"

Dark nearly shrieked once he heard a familiar voice next to him. He noticed that one of his friends, Ethan, was inside the elevator as well. As usual, Ethan was wearing his too-big glasses, had his purple spiky hair combed, and appeared clean and healthy.

Ethan was one of Dark's best friends after all. And he didn't even meet him when they were outside!

Truth to be told, Dark met Ethan in the company, during training session. Ethan was far the most useless duelist around, as others would say. He was very paranoid, scared, and most of all, shy. There must have been something that demanded him to do so, because Dark had literally marched up to him, and demanded that they both train, to make sure Ethan wasn't gonna get thrown out for being a weak duelist.

Ethan was easy to teach, and he got the hang of it in less than an hour. Dark was impressed by his skill, and was surprised when he found out that Ethan played the same attribute as him; A DARK deck. And since Ethan was literally friendless, Dark had somehow made his responsibility to make sure Ethan gets to act like a normal Black Star soldier, minus the mocking for enemies part. Other than that, Ethan literally had no family left, except for his hyperactive cousin, Mishka. He did say that he lost his parents during a little trip, plus, his younger sister. Kinda sad, really.

Tairo, however, was his friend from the outside world. They were close friends, plus, Taimi was really close to Dark and Astral too. Tairo was always positive, like a certain someone, and that was the reason Dark got a bit annoyed at him when they first met. But Tairo was probably always enied that. Being the older sibling, Taimi always denied that. As Taimi was older, she automatically thought that she was more mature than Tairo, her little brother. Tairo used an EARTH deck, while Taimi used a WIND deck. He was good at it too.

Akari was the oldest in Dark's group of friends, with Taimi being the second oldest. She used to be a dueling journalist, until she was captured. She was also a big sister, and was Yuma's sister, which was Astral's best friend. At first, she didn't duel much, since she was being busy with her job as a journalist and all, but she proved to be quite the opponent. She was highly skilled at both the ATK stats and DEF stats of her monsters. Plus, she can quickly swarm her field, and destroy as many cards as possible.

Dark noticed that Ethan followed him to his room. He raised an eyebrow, staring at the purple boy questioningly. "Ethan.. why're you following me to my room? I'm gonna take a bath.. and I don't want anyone taking the wrong idea, ya know!"

Ethan shrugged. "Don't worry. I'll wait outside. I just thought it'd be nice if we walked together to the training room. Tairo and Hidenagi are going together, and you know how I fear Hidenagi.. he's always telling people he'd eat them if they ever badmouth any of us!"

"Uh.. that's not really a bad thing." Dark sighed. "He's protective of all of us, and I don't think that's bad. We are Hidenagi's only friends after all. And don't worry, Hidenagi really doesn't eat people, despite looking like a wolf."

"But still.."

"Just.. stay there, okay? I'm gonna take a bath now, so you better be patient!" Ethan nodded, as Dark ran to his personal room, and rushed to the bathroom. Dark was a bit of a private person, because unlike any of them, Dark never once invited any of them to go inside his room. One would think Dark would be hiding a lot of things teenage boys hide, but those who were close to him actually knew Dark needs privacy.

Because sometimes, the latter would cry and sulk all alone, not wanting anyone to see him in such a pathetic state.

* * *

**-Black Star, Floor 34: Duel/Turbo Duel Training-**

"Just, try not to fall, 'kay?" Hidenagi told Tairo, who was currently shivering while attempting to ride a duel runner. Of course, it was just a duel runner simulator, but still.. that didn't prevent Tairo from being afraid.

They couldn't blame Tairo, he came from a ninja village! So, he obviously doesn't have any experience riding vehicles such as a motor-bike, or a duel runner. The spider-haired boy kept telling Hidenagi that he didn't need to Turbo duel to be a good duelist, but according to the boss, some of the soldiers from White Moon knew how to Turbo Duel.

So, it was pretty predictable that he ordered everyone to learn and master Turbo Duels. Problem was, Tairo couldn't even ride a duel runner without shivering as if he just came out of the freezer.

"It's basically ridin' a bike. Avoid obstacles along the way, too. I'll teach ya Turbo Duelin' later, but first, ya need to learn how to ride the damn duel runner!" Hidenagi said, annoyed. Tairo, having no choice, agreed.

"F-Fine." He stammered. "But I'm only doing this because we all need to learn how Turbo Duels work! I know the basics, but riding these things is an impossible task!" Tairo complained. Hidenagi sighed, and turned on the simulator.

_**"Race Simulator On. Soldier(s) info required."**_

"Black Star Soldier #8945: Hidenagi Yuki, and Black Star Soldier #2019: Tairo Shikuro." Hidenagi told the machine. "Difficulty's easy, Speed's slow, and.. environment is.. a forest." Hidenagi added. Tairo stared at him with a confused look.

"Why.. a forest?! I'll run over animals!" He shrieked.

Hidenagi facepalmed. "No, you moron! It's just a simulator, so there's no animals or plants or humans! Besides.." He leaned back a little on the computer, as it prepared to start the duel runner. "I picked a forest, so ya'd feel more comfortable."

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**Me: Well, that's chapter two!**

**Ethan: Next chapter; White Moon's boss, plus his assistants, study about the numbers, and make a shocking discovery. Meanwhile, Rinko and her.. "pet", notice something wrong with the fellow soldiers.**

**Review if ya like!**


	3. Chapter 3: The God's Power, Numeron

**Me: Third Chapter up! And thanks to ScoundrelCookie for the compliments! I LOVE YOU.**

**Rinko: *Blushes* M-My personality's unique, huh? *Huffs* Hmph! H-How pathetic!**

**Tairo: Although, you have to admit, it was nice of her to compliment you! Stop being such a tsundere to Ao's friends!**

**Rinko: Also, in this story, other than duels, there will also be actual fights with actual weapons, to change things a bit. Weapon names are either from monsters, spells, or equip spells, and attacks are named after spells and traps.**

**Tairo: Enjoy! Also, Ao accepts OCs! Currently, there are three OCs who agreed to join the story!**

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**-White Moon, Floor 98: The Assistants' Office-**

A figure of a woman watched the outside world through the window. Smoke, more smoke, a pool of blood, an acid puddle or two, a giant mountain of garbage, people injured, people _dying_.. wow. It was just a normal day for everyone in Heartland city. The people outside had managed to survive a bit, by hunting for edible stuff, and medicine. but it wasn't gonna last long.

She sighed. She had already seen more than a hundred people die from the unhealthy environment from the outside world. But that was the reason the White Moon soldiers were given uniforms that protects them from the poisoned air, and acid puddles outside. Their weapons, who turn to wearable items were also made with a special item to make sure the wielder of the weapon is safe.

"Ena." A voice said. Ena turned around, with her usual worried expression. She was already used to hearing bad news, yet she still kept that expression plastered across her face. The figure had just realized he used Ena's first name, and coughed awkwardly. "I mean..Ms. Asuka, Sir Eliphas wants to have a word with all of us at the moment. You're not busy, I assume?"

Ena shook her head. "Not really, Hokai-kun. What does Eliphas want now? _More _soldiers?"

Hokai gulped, afraid of Ena's change in personality. "N-Not really. It is about the numbers, I think..He and Miharu were studying about numbers, until he started.. um, throwing a tantrum? Miharu and Eika took their time to calm him down, and once he did, he demanded all of his assistants to come to his office. Right now.."

Ena sighed. "Fine! C'mon. We don't want Mr. Grumpy throwing another tantrum. Geez, even Miharu-kun's more mature than that grumpy bear!"

Hokai had to hold a giggle.

Ena Asuka was Eliphas' childhood friend, and most trusted assistant. She was basically a mother figure to all of the soldiers, and often checks on them and their health. It was unknown if she was a duelist or not, but people say that she was the nicest person in the entire building. (Yuma and Rinko beg to differ: to them, the nicest person they ever knew was Astral.) Ena usually just wandered around the building like a ghost, as people claimed. Ena didn't mind or cared, she just wanted to make sure everyone in the damn building was alright.

Hokai was a friend Ena and Eliphas met at high school. Like Ena, everyone doesn't know if he duels or not. He is said to be Eliphas' first friend to actually be a guy, so people often teased Ena and Eliphas are a couple. Heck, even Hokai had to laugh at that. He was one of the five leaders of the White Moon, and is in charge of making sure that the soldiers are not breaking rules around the place. Basically, he's like Ena, except he's seen to whack the soldiers' heads a lot.

The duo stepped inside the elevator, and headed for floor ninety-nine of the White Moon building.

**-Meanwhile, White Moon: Floor 56: Physical Training-**

"I'm surprised that Sir Eliphas canceled today's meeting." Taimi commented, as a katana appeared on her hand. It was gold and silver in color, and had a fuchsia ribbon tied around the handle. "Now, Ragnarok, with your blade of light, we can surely stop the Black Star soldiers from gathering numbers, right? I mean, we collect numbers for one thing we all want.. right? Our freedom.. if Black Star gets all of it, who knows what measures Sir Eliphas would go through to get them all. He might even sacrifice some of us! So, we need to be stronger to defeat Black Star, Ragnarok. You understand?"

The katana, Ragnarok, responded by glowing brightly. Taimi smiled softly, and pointed the katana at Rinko. "Rinko-chan, our physical duel begins now. So, erm.. finish your food and summon your weapon, okay?"

Rinko, who was beside Astral, made a confused look, as she took out the lollipop from her mouth. "This? I can fight even with a lollipop on my mouth, ya know. So, don't hold back."

Astral nervously laughed. "Y-Yes.. but, it might be shoved down your throat during practice! S-So, I think it's best to listen to Taimi-neechan.." Astral nervously said. "O-Of course you should do what you prefer, b-but.. you should use the safest way when practicing!"

"Please stop stuttering too much Astral-kun, it is a bit hard for anyone to understand what you are saying." Haruki sighed, as he pat the light-haired boy's head. "And another thing, you should not fear anyone in this building, because they will never hurt you." Haruki smiled, and all of a sudden, his eyes darkened, and his soft smile turned into a creepy grin. "However, if anyone dares to hurt you, please do not hesitate to tell me or Taimi-san, okay?"

Yuma shivered from Haruki's creepy personality, and sighed. "Haruki, stop creeping everyone out. The only danger we see here is you and Taimi."

Haruki replied with another smile, but this one wasn't so scary as earlier. "Sorry."

"Anyway.." Rinko took the lollipop out of her mouth, and threw it to the nearest trash can. She rolled her uniform's very long sleeves, revealing a blue bracelet with an orange jewel. Rinko took the bracelet off, as it started glowing. "Salamandra, we're doing physical training in order to get stronger to gather numbers. You're up for it, right?"

The bracelet responded, by making the orange jewel glow. Rinko held out the bracelet in front of Taimi with a serious look. "If you are ready Salamandra, then transform into your sword form right now! We can't let the Black Star soldiers beat us! We need to remain strong, you hear me?! So, naturally, we'll train seriously, as if it was a death battle!"

Astral, Haruki, and Yuma watched in amazement as Rinko's blue bracelet transformed into a blue sword. Taimi smiled cheerfully, and held up Ragnarok. "Ah, so you're ready, Rinko-chan? Let's not use to much of our power, as we might have a little mission or two later, 'kay? We know what Sir Eliphas will do to weak soldiers.."

Rinko held out her sword in front of her. "I could care less what they do to me! I'm making sure you're strong, Taimi! Now, Salamandra! Let's attack her with the unforgiving pain from **Hinotama**!"

Fire balls surrounded the younger girl, as she grinned. "Dodge this if ya can, Taimi!"

"Oh, I won't." Taimi smirked. "I'll counter it! Attacks shall be blocked with the powerful **Mirror Force**!" Ragnarok formed a barrier in front of itself and Taimi, as the fire balls bumped into the force field.

The fire balls suddenly went back to the orange haired girl, accidentally messing up her uniform in the process. "Gah! Why you..! Let's see how you like this! An attack that shall avenge the tamer of wild flames, **Backfire**!" Flames suddenly surrounded Rinko, and she pointed her sword at Taimi. "Now, flames! Attack Taimi and Ragnarok!"

Taimi was a bit late to react, and the flames managed to burn a part of her hair. "Eek! Rinko-chan! Not the hair!" She whined. "Waaah! Ragnarok! Avenge my hair, by attacking her with the forever-powerful, **Chtonian Blast**!"

"Rinko-san, watch out!" Astral yelled.

"Gah!"

The attack managed to shove Rinko against the wall, so her head obviously was whacked by the impact. "D-Dammit.. **Fire Darts**! I won't lose easily, Taimi..! Argh..!" Flaming darts formed around Rinko, as she attempted to point her sword at Taimi, who was being a bit worried. "Burn my enemy to ashes!" she yelled before dropping to her knees.

Taimi dodged the flaming darts, and stared at Rinko worriedly. "Ah! Rinko-chan!" Taimi ran to her younger friend, and gasped as she saw a burn mark on her arm. "Oh no! Mirror Force deflected Hinotama back to you, so you used your arm to protect yourself.. I'm sorry! G-Guys, help!"

"Oh no!" Haruki and Yuma exclaimed, as Astral gasped.

Rinko grit her teeth in pain. "I-It's nothing, Taimi! Let's continue trai- ARGH! S-Shit!" Rinko held her head up, and realized.. her head was bleeding from the impact. Taimi started to panic, as Ragnarok turned back to it's original form; a gold and silver ring, with a pink ribbon.

"Rinko!" Yuma ran next to her. "Astral! Call Kotori! She's probably at floor thirty-seven! Haruki, Taimi, we'll carry her to her room at the dorm section!"

Astral nodded, and ran to the elevator. "Y-Yes! Please be careful! R-Rinko-san, don't push yourself, alright?!"

As the youngest boy left, Rinko glared at all of them. "I said I'm fine!" She hissed. "I can't be strong at this rate! We need to train harder to gather numbers, right?! We need to collect the numbers, so we could finally be free! Besides, Yuma, wasn't it you that told me to be less 'scary' during training, since I scare Astral and a few of the soldiers?!"

"Rinko!" Yuma yelled. "That's enough! If you don't accept help, you can end up dying! Just.. relax, alright?" Yuma turned to the older female. "Taimi, it's not your fault, so stop blaming yourself, okay? You two were giving it your all, even when it's just training."

"Yuma is correct." Haruki commented, as he knelt down near Rinko. "Ride on my back. I will carry you to your room. Do not attempt to make unnecessary movements."

"Screw you, and your logic." Rinko stuck her tongue out childishly to the indigo-eyed male. She clutched her arm, and turned away. "I can walk by myself, thank you very much!"

Haruki sighed at how stubborn the little devil was. He turned to Taimi, who was currently wondering how to forcefully bring the younger girl to her room. Suddenly, an idea popped to his head. Maybe there was a way to drag the little devil to her room without forcing her, or tying her up. "Rinko, did you know we hid candies in your room?"

Rinko hesitantly turned to the three. "..I'm listening."

Yuma and Tami had to chuckle at that statement. "Of course we would never give them to you, if you refuse to go in your own room. Plus, do you know what kind of candy they are?"

"..What?"

"Chocolate and milk flavored lollipops. There are about.. twenty of them, in an orange box with bell patterns. They are under your bed, near your pet's bed and other belongings."

In less than five seconds, Rinko dashed to the second elevator, tapping her foot impatiently. "C'mon you guys! I need to heal my injuries, ya know! And I can't leave those darn ants near my candy stash!"

The spider-haired girl and the lobster-haired boy both groaned. Haruki, however, giggled. Always use the candy trick.

**-White Moon, Floor 99: Leader's Office-**

A boy, who seemed to be twelve or less, continued his task of trying to avoid his boss' attacks. His boss had been shooting azure laser beams all day, all because of something he just found out. It was probably about the numbers. Sighing, he held up his own weapon, which was a green dagger. "Aegis.. let us block Sir Eliphas' attacks with our mighty attacks. I shall do, **Chain Burst.**"

The green dagger glowed a bit, as a sphere of energy formed in front of the boy. He held his dagger in front of him, as the sphere grew bigger. "Aegis! Keep blocking! I do not want to be killed right now, without knowing the cause of Sir Eliphas' problem!"

"Doesn't matter in the end." The woman beside him negatively said. "We're all gonna die anyway. It's the way of life, isn't it, Miharu-kun?~"

The boy, Miharu, glared at her. "You really are a negative woman, Eika-san!" Miharu yelled. "But, I cannot lecture you on your negativity at the moment! We shall do our job to make sure our leader is, um.. in a completely-good way, _not acting like a child.._"

Eliphas nearly threw a nearby stool at him, if it weren't for Ena clearing her throat loudly. "Eliphas! For the love of Exodia, stop throwing your tantrums around like a little kid! Miharu, good comment right there! Eika, quit being negative as hell!" Ena had yelled out, causing the three to stop using their weapons to attack and defend each other. Ena, making an annoyed grunt, marched to Eliphas.

Hokai watch as Ena scold her childhood friend. More like a mother, scolding her son. Miharu was obviously tired from protecting himself, so he asked Aegis, which transformed into a green marble, to rest as well. Eika, however, was waltzing around as usual, humming a little tune. Hokai had to wait for awhile to make sure the two didn't kill each other. And by the looks of it, the argument was just getting better.

"Excuse you! I do not act like a child!"

"Says the guy who threw a tantrum! Bleh!" Ena stuck her tongue out like a child, irritating Eliphas more.

"It's numbers-related things! It's important, so it's natural for me to act like this!"

"Then why didn't Miharu-kun act the same way you did, grumpy?!"

"What the?! Stop calling me that, Ena!" It was going to take awhile, before they could stop their bickering. Well, at least Ena was right about Miharu being mature..

After a few minutes, the five leaders were now on the meeting table, practically forgetting about the damage Eliphas had caused. He cleared his throat awkwardly, and motioned Miharu to start a report. Miharu nodded, although he avoided eye contact from their leader. "A-Anyway.. earlier today, before erm.. that little.. accident earlier.."

"We do not want to be reminded of that, Futami-san." Hokai said.

"Y-Yes.. anyway! Me, Sir Eliphas, and Eika-san were researching on numbers, as usual. We have all assumed that numbers have their own minds and a will, until now. However, that is most certainly not the case. Numbers may be able to protect themselves from us, the White Moon, or the Black Star, but those shields are not created by the spirits dwelling on the numbers."

"Then what is?" Asked Ena. "It couldn't be a human creating those, right? Both companies use special energies, scientifically called 'Astrite', in which we store at out technology for number hunting. Those energies, when installed to out number hunting equipment, enable members of both companies to grab numbers."

"Yes, because any human who attempts to grab a number with a bare hand will end up injuring, and even killing, themselves." Eika reminded them. "Although.. it is an exception for a certain human.."

"What are you saying, Akumen-san?" Hokai asked curiously. "An exception? You mean a certain human has made technologies superior to White Moon's or Black Star's?"

"That is not the case.." Eliphas said. "We do not think it's technology, but due to research that our scientists have just found out.. let's say, there is a special energy, which is stored inside a human."

Ena and Hokai became a little more confused. "Huh?"

"What he means to say is," Miharu interrupted. "When the numbers were revealed in our world, they didn't simply hide themselves within any location, and formed barriers to protect themselves. The numbers had emitted a special energy, in which the youngest scientist of White Moon, Michael Arclight III, had translated the mysterious language numbers made, into 'Numeron'. Numeron is a really powerful source of energy, as Mister Arclight had stated. The power itself is said to create and destroy."

"Although, Michael's assistants had also referred it to 'Kami's Power'. I mean, what else could you refer to power that can create and destroy?" Eika added. "Moving on.. Numeron was so strong that, believe it or not, Numbers had _chosen _a bearer of that power! How crazy is that?!"

"Very." Ena added. "So, Numeron is now being held inside a person?"

"Not just a person." Eliphas sighed. "A _child._"

Hokai had just fell of his seat when he heard that statement. "Wait, how?!" He yelled. "For such a powerful source of power to be wielded by a child?! Wasn't it proven by Mr. Arclight himself that, a younger a soul is, the weaker their energy is?!"

"True, true.." Ena muttered. "However. Books had stated that younger people have a purer soul. When a baby is born, they're innocent. If a baby was born to have psychic abilities, such as us, they will have the strongest powers imaginable."

"But Numeron isn't like our powers." Miharu interrupted. "Half of Numeron's power is stored into a little relic in which Mister Arclight had referred to as 'Numeron Code'. The other half, is stored within a human, as we know. Numbers seem to be the key to unlocking the whereabouts of the relic, but if we can get help from the human who bears the Numeron's other half, we may be able to unlock the true power of the numbers."

"And the Numbers were smart enough to not store half of Kami's power inside a careless human. You know how some of our species only desire money and power.. they had decided to store the power inside of a child, who is still innocent and pure." Eika giggled. "Unfortunately, we have no idea who it might be.."

"I have suspicions." Ena announced. "As I am able to sense auras of our soldiers, I think I know a few White Moon soldiers who might possess the strange power."

"Then do tell." Eliphas said, leaning forward. "Who are your suspicions, Ena?"

Ena had snapped her fingers, and a holographic screen appeared. "I have less than a hundred. However, I think I only have about three.."

"Then we'll listen." Hokai said, taking out a notebook and a pen. "Suspicion number one is..?"

Ena had typed on the keyboard, as a soldier's picture and information appeared on the screen. "Member #1192 is my first suspicion. His full name is Astral Orianel Mist, commonly called 'Asu-kun' among his closest friends and nicknamed 'Original' by the dueling trainers. His gender is of course, a male, age is thirteen, which is young enough to be a suspect." Ena said. "Other information about this boy was he was born with heterochromic eyes; one crystal clear white, and one luminous gold. Before his membership of White Moon, he had numerous hospital records, mostly getting high fevers, and even ended up in a coma twice. He has a hard time speaking properly, as he only uttered his first word when he turned four. Up until now, he doesn't know simple words, such as.. swearing words. However, he does know 'big' words a normal teen might not know. He was orphaned along with his older brother, Daruku Orianel Mist, whose whereabouts are unknown. His unknown mother had died giving birth to him, while his father had left the siblings for another family. During his exam here at White Moon, he was proven to be very intelligent, and was even good at dueling. His weapon is an arm-canon in which he named after his cards. His weapon is 'Wave-Motion', an arm-canon in which takes time to load. It's original form is a watch. It's name is from a powerful damage-dealing spell card. He uses a 'Psychic' deck, focusing on increasing his life points, and in synchro summoning. Most members tend to complain about his naivety, clumsiness, and weird speech pattern. Other than this, Astral suffers from a weird mental disorder, which had caused him to forget the majority of his past when he was kidnapped. Overall, his reputation here seems to be quite big. He is also quite a scaredy-cat and a worrywart. His spirit partner is a monster named 'Krebons', in which members of the company refer to as 'annoying crap'. That is all."

"Huh. He seems to be the type of kid that older girls, who mostly like 'cute' boys, would go after." Eika joked. "Hmm.. he sounds as a possible subject. Although, someone as frail-sounding as him doesn't seem to be the type of person you'd give a destructive power to."

"Well, I managed to write a bit of information regarding this boy." Hokai said. "Next suspect?"

Ena had typed another name. "Member #8118 is second. His full name is Haruki Hidien Tenshi, commonly called 'Tenshi-kun' among females. For dueling trainers, they call him 'Angelic Devil'. Like Astral, he's a male, but he's fifteen. I think he's still young enough to be able to wield Numeron." Ena said. "Haruki, before his membership, was born from a loving family. However, he mostly got his mother's genes, and his hair ended up being like a girl's. He looked like this until he turned nine, and he started looking more of a male. His reputation at Heartland Elementary is as big as Astral's reputation here at White Moon. He was famous for his intelligence, looks, and talents. Haruki also had a weird way of speaking, preferring to complete his sentences properly like a knight would. He wouldn't use 'I'm' or 'Shouldn't', but use 'I am' and 'Should not or Shall not'. Haruki is also said to be a gentleman, and is very polite to people. However, he seems to have a protectiveness over Astral, as he was the friend of Astral's older brother. Haruki is an only-child, and seems to be the youngest in all his relatives. Haruki uses a 'Fiend' deck, focusing on summoning as many powerful monsters as possible. His weapon is a pendant, with a picture of his family. His weapon is able to turn into a spear, which he named 'Waboku', a trap card. He and Astral both have unique speech patterns, making them stand out. Haruki, however, suffers from emotional disorders. His spirit partner is the monster 'Barrier Resonator', a creepy monster who seems to giggle at random times. That's all."

"Haruki seems to sound like a scary guy.." Miharu commented. "Kinda like a guy with a yandere-ish personality. But he's still a reasonable suspect."

"And last suspect is..?" Hokai had asked.

Ena typed someone's name, and once again, their picture and information appeared. "Lastly, this is member #9141. Her name is Rinko Pyra Mikoron-Yutora, commonly nicknamed differently. For friends, they call her 'Rin-chan'. For dueling trainers, they call her 'Flame Mistress'. And by members, they call her 'Fiery Fiend'. Her gender is female, and she's thirteen." Ena explained. "As a child, she was abused by her family, who were depressed after the loss of her older sibling, which remains anonymous. Due to this, she spent most of life living with her friend, Kotori Mizuki. She had only a few friends in school of her gender, since she played a deck which were different from theirs. Most girls her age had preferred to use monsters who are elegant or cute, and winning with no damage. However, her cards had focused on effect damage, and had a lot of risks. Most of her cards were deemed scary, too. Rinko is quite boyish, rude, and most of all, violent. Her weapon is a blue sword, whose original form is a bracelet. She named it after an equip spell, and it's name is 'Salamandra'. Rinko uses a 'Fire' deck, which focuses on powerful and easy to summon fire monsters, who can also deplete her opponent's life points. Rinko is also known for her famous 'special rule' during duels. It involves both players starting with 8000 life points, instead of the usual 4000. Rinko has quite a foul mouth and short temper, but is seen to be kind to her friends. Her spirit partner is a small dragon named 'Horus', which can interestingly, can transform into a giant dragon, and an even bigger dragon. It can only say 'kyuu' on it's original form, but it growls and roars on it's evolved forms. That's it."

Eliphas seemed to be speechless. "Uh.. you did say pure soul.. I doubt cursing and being violent could be deemed pure, but okay.. she seems to be the type of girl who'd prefer taking off heads rather than make-up.."

"However." Ena interrupted. "My biggest suspicion is definitely Astral."

"Why?" Asked Miharu and Eika.

"I seemed to have notice this recently. Whenever Astral is in a good mood in the morning, we are able to get a number in the afternoon. But when Astral's in a bad mood, our members usually return injured or empty-handed. It is quite possible that Astral controls Numeron with his emotions." Ena explained. "Astral is really frail, which makes you doubt his abilities as a duelist. However, our trainers have said that Astral is able to manipulate his opponents with his weak and timid appearance and personality. I think that makes Numeron want him as it's host."

"But I also have suspicions for Rinko." Miharu said. "During one of their training sessions, Rinko had managed to burn a vase of flowers, before she can summon Salamandra, her weapon. Trainees like them cannot use their abilities before summoning a weapon, but she had managed to use her power before summoning her weapon. I think that makes her a possible suspect."

"As for Haruki, I never seen him do anything out of the ordinary, so I think he's not a suspect." Eika said. "So, both Astral and Rinko are possible wielders of Numeron."

"Well, that's enough for today." Announced Eliphas. "We shall discuss this matter tomorrow, so take a break, all of you."

They all replied with a salute. "Yes, sir."

**-White Moon, Floor 12, Room #9141: Rinko's Room-**

Haruki was a big fat liar! There wasn't any candy at all! She had been bought straight to her room, and bandaged so much, she couldn't even move! Kotori had told her to stay put, then proceeded to continue her jobs, while Haruki, Taimi, and Yuma resumed training. Astral was tasked to guard her, as they knew Rinko wouldn't dare to attack the most fragile member of their group. As expected, Astral was peeling apples, with his super annoying spirit partner Krebons. If it was a duel, Astral would have used Krebons as Synchro Material. Rinko would have done the same either, if she was using the same deck as Astral's.

Krebons was mean and annoying and a jerk to anyone, except Astral. Astral however, was sweet as candy to anyone, even the annoying Krebons. Meanwhile, Rinko's spirit partner, Horus, was sleeping on her bed. Spirit partners weren't allowed to roam around the building, unless it was very important. Usually, Krebons guards Astral's room, and Horus guards Rinko's.

"Heeheehee! To think your friend would fall for a trick as simple as that! Heehee, what an idiot!" Krebons giggled. Astral made a frown, and gave the plate of sliced apples to Rinko, whose eyes were like knives. Ah, she seemed to be a bit murderous, as usual..

"Krebons, it's not nice to call Rin-san an idiot. She's smart, and she has a sweet tooth. Besides, candy helps her relieve stress." Astral said. "It's not nice to call anyone an idiot, Krebons. Keep that in mind."

Krebons gulped. He probably took it as a threat, which was stupid. Astral never threatened anyone. "Y-Yes, master. I apologize!" Krebons bowed. Astral giggled a bit.

"No harm done.. other than irritating Rin-san." Astral said, before turning to Rinko. "How are the apples? Ena-san got outside, and purified an apple tree. I hope they're safe to eat."

"Of course they are." Rinko said, biting the apple. "You did just say Ena purified the tree, right? Then the fruit is obviously clean." Rinko said, as she chewed the apple. It was clean, so it was safe to eat. She handed the plate to Astral, who looked at her questioningly. "Eat. You haven't ate any snacks."

Astral took on of the apples and ate it. "It tastes really sweet! Ena-san is lucky to have the ability to purify people and plants, huh?" Astral said, with a mouthful. He gave one apple to Krebons, who munched on it slowly.

"Mhm. Purifying is a rare power, as I've heard." Rinko added. "Then again, it wouldn't be surprising that one of the leaders of the company have powers like that."

Rinko stopped once something started beeping. She looked at her uniform, which had the White Moon's crest embedded onto it. The crescent moon was beeping and blinking rapidly. She frowned. It meant that she had to go to the Leader's office immediately.

**_"R-Rinko Y-Yutora.. A-Astral M-Mist.."_** The crescent moon had said. It was some sort of phone that they use. And by the voice, it was the youngest leader, Miharu Futami. **_"R-Report to the office with your spi-spirit partners! N-Now!"_****_  
_**

As the message ended, Rinko and Astral stared at each other in confusion. "What was that all about?"

* * *

**Me: LOL the preview was lying. BUT IT'S FIVE THOUSAND WORDS SO FORGIVE MEH. I STILL HAVE REQUESTS FROM BOTH DARKINSANITYSOUL AND THESCOUNDRELCOOKIE.**

**Rinko: Known weapons as of now, appeared or mentioned: Ragnarok, Katana-transforming ring, Salamandra, Sword-transforming bracelet, Aegis, Dagger-transforming marble, and Wave-Motion, Canon-transforming watch.**

**Tairo: Next chapter; Rinko and Astral duel! With Rinko's special rule applied, too!**

**Review if ya like!**


	4. Chapter 4: Rinko Vs Astral

**Me: Good news! OCs for the White Moon, Sei and Selena Arclight, are gonna appear in this chapter. And so are Lunar (Luna) and Siri, by DarkInsanitySoul and Dragonwolf416. Because of this, "Sei Jen", the canon Zexal girl who likes Astral in BW, will be renamed as "Seika Jen" in this story.**

**Rinko: Well, that's a lot. And aren't me and Astral gonna duel in this chapter? Astral's deck is a "Psychic" one, but he has a lot of made-up cards that will appear in future chapters, plus that annoying Krebons in his deck. Mine? You'll see... and yes, my second name is "Pyra" and Ethan's is "Ceres". Just.. don't ask. My parents were drunk when they named us, probably.**

**Tairo: ..I have to admit, Lunar-chan and Siri-san are pretty. But of course, prettiness is determined by men of Black Star, who think my nee-chan is the "pinnacle of pretty". Pfft. Lunar-chan and Siri-chan are prettier than my nee-chan! (Even if she does have.. a big.. bust.)**

**Rinko: *Grabs collar* Don't attempt to date any of them, since romance is not the focus of this story right now. It's about uncontrolled powers, death, amnesia, mind-control, betrayal and anything you don't wanna see in a romance fic.. Enjoy.**

**Quick note: In this fanfic/AU, Astral is a meek, weak, and cowardly child. He's practically Yuma's Kattobingu-less self. This is the reason he can't defend himself well when Rinko's dueling him: He's easily scared of her monsters. **

* * *

**-Black Star, Floor 56: Dueling Training-**

"Those two sure are taking their time." Commented Dark, as he ran his fingers over his still-wet hair. It was a good thing that he didn't smell like blood and vinegar anymore, and only smelled like what Ethan would call, "suffocating perfumes". Ah, but it was better than smelling like someone's intestines popped out of their body.. well that was just gross. "I hope Tairo does good in Turbo Dueling practice. That guy sucks at even riding a bike."

"Well, ninjas tend to travel with only their feet, so I think it's not surprising he cannot ride a bike or anything similar." Ethan chuckled. "Although, it would be hilarious if Tairo and his older sister did go here to Heartland with only their feet."

As both of them laughed at Ethan's joke, an ear-piercing screech echoed throughout the room. It sounded somewhat familiar, and was accompanied by laughter that sounded it was from an animal.. it was, indeed, from an animal. The animal was quite smug, and he was laughing victoriously, as if he had managed to kill another animal for dinner.

Hidenagi was a person raised by wolves, so.. yeah. He was practically, an animal. "Ahahahaha! Ya couldn't keep still on the duel runner, ya freakin' spider! Ya failed more than I can count, I lost track! Ahahaha!"

Tairo was beside the laughing wolf-boy, and he was blushing with humiliation. "Y-yeah.. just don't announce it, I know how much I failed.. but I can make up for it by dueling!" Tairo said, taking out his black d-gazer. It had yellow lens, and was a bit square in appearance. "I-I'll show you! I'm good at actual dueling!" declared Tairo, as he ran towards Dark and Ethan, who were probably pretending as if they didn't know who the loud-mouths were.

"Keep your voice down, seriously." scolded Dark. "We'll get in trouble if you two keep yelling like that."

"B-But it was Hidenagi's fault!" He cried like a kindergarten student. "He made fun of me, just because I fell of the duel runner during our turbo duel!" Tairo whined. "I had no idea how speed spells worked! Gah! They were so confusing! How do speed counters work, anyway?!"

As Tairo whined loudly, accompanied by Hidenagi's loud laughter, two girls who were watching the others duel, marched up to them with a bit of annoyance. Again, Dark and Ethan pretended they did not know who Tairo and Hidenagi were. The older-looking girl look slightly irritated, while the younger girl appeared shy. Most likely, the younger was trying to stop the older from scolding them as if they were her own children.

"Excuse me." Ah, she sounded as old as Taimi.. maybe younger? "But you seem to have caused a bit of a private noise-party here. I don't think it would kill to be quiet, hm?" She said. "Lunar-chan here seemed to be a bit irritated too."

The younger girl turned to her friend, her face full of shock. "W-Wait! I never said anything, Siri-san!"

Ethan seemed to have gotten the hint that Tairo and Hidenagi were making a scene earlier. "We're sorry, girls. We won't cause too much of a ruckus again." He said apologetically. Lunar was relieved by the fact that she didn't offend anyone, and neither did Siri, who finally relaxed a bit around them. Probably due to Ethan's calmness.

"Well, since you apologized politely, we won't have too much of a trouble now, would we?" Siri grinned. "Nice to meet you! I'm Siri Elder, a sixteen-year old number hunter here in Black Star. This little lady right here is.." Siri pulled Lunar's arm, who flinched. "Is Luna. She's a thirteen-year old number hunter like me, but.. she doesn't have a last name, considering she was adopted by the boss when he made the company. She kinda has amnesia."

Lunar shyly waved her hand. "Er, um.. nice to meet you.. sorry if me and Siri-san angered you guys by.. ya know, scolding.."

Dark shook his head. "It's fine. Both Tairo and Hidenagi need a bit of a parental figure around to scold them for being loud. And you didn't do anything bad, so I don't care." Dark said boredly. He realized Ethan's hand was outstretched towards the girls.

"I'm Ethan Ceres Yutora-Mikoron! Currently, I'm fourteen years old. Nice to meet you!" He said eagerly. Siri shook his hand, while Lunar shyly shook it. "This guy next to me is Daruku Orianel Mist, my dueling-teacher and room-neighbor. He's a year older than me."

Dark only nodded, before leaving the group to prepare his deck. Ethan then grabbed Tairo's arm, but refused to grab Hidenagi's, fearing that the latter would bite his arm off. "This is Tairo Shikuro. He's the same age as Dark. And the guy that looks like a wolf is Hidenagi Garu Yuki. They didn't mean to start annoying noises, right guys?"

Both only mindlessly nodded, and were currently still laughing/crying over the turbo duel incident in their minds. Siri made a huff noise, while Lunar remained silent.

"Nice to meet you. Well, it was fun talking, but me and Lunar gotta go now. See ya guys around, hope we can chat again!" Siri said with a smile, before dragging the white-haired girl with her. As they walked towards the elevator, Siri commented about the group of rowdy boys. "They're interesting, aren't they? One of them has mismatched eyes, like you, one of them looks like a wolf, and has a bit of a problem speaking properly, one of them is a ninja, and looks like a spider, and the last one.. has a rather unique name. Two last names, though.."

"I wonder why. Maybe his parents never got along that much, so he used their last names?" Lunar asked. "But you're right. They're an interesting bunch. Although.." Suddenly, Lunar flushed and sighed dreamily. "Although, the rude one, despite his said personality, is quite cute, but I wonder why he seemed so sad.."

Siri stopped in her tracks to grin mischievously. "Ohhhhhhhhhh. So you like that 'Daruku' guy, huh? I didn't know you go for men like those, Lunar-chan! Your tastes in men are quite different than I imagined!~"

"E-Eh?! N-No! Siri-san!"

"Man, they're the one makin' a ruckus now." Hidenagi told Tairo, who was watching Siri tease Lunar as they headed towards the elevator. They didn't know the reason, but ah, who cares?

Meanwhile, Ethan was helping Dark prepare for dueling training. "Dark-kun, why did you seem.. more upset than usual when you saw Lunar-san and Siri-san? They seemed like nice people!"

Dark grumbled. "It doesn't help, Ethan. It just doesn't."

"What doesn't help?" Asked a confused Ethan. Dark buried his face in his hands.

"That Lunar-girl looks like _him.. _She looks a bit like Astral.. their hair is a light color, both have one white eye, and they're both pale. Other than that, the shy personality was also like Astral's.. I feel like this place is tormenting my emotions."

Ethan frowned. "Probably just a coincidence, Dark-kun. In the mean time, why don't we take our minds off it with a friendly duel?"

"You're right.. the fact that she looks and acts like him is probably just a coincidence."

**-Later, White Moon, Floor 97: Stadium-**

Rinko and Astral, along with their duel spirits, made their way towards the five leaders, who were standing side by side. Astral was nervous. He had only seen Ena, and maybe even talked with her a few times, and only saw Eliphas during meetings. The other three were staring at them, since they didn't know who they actually were. They heard Miharu's child-like voice, but they never expected him to be so young! And the other two, Eika and Hokai, were staring at them so intently.

"Don't be shy." Ena said with a smile. Rinko was walking carefully, trying to make sure they weren't going to be ambushed, while Horus kept an eye on the leaders. Krebons was literally guarding Astral by going around in circles, while Astral slowly walked behind the fiery girl.

"May I ask why are we needed?" Rinko politely asked. Usually, Rinko would never show such manners, but no doubt that Astral would be scared to death if Rinko said something rude to the leaders. "And why are our dueling spirits needed as well for this task?"

Eika approached them and quickly poked Krebons, who yelped. "Ah. He seems healthy. How about the dragon?" She then poked Horus on the stomach, causing the little dragon to yelp in surprise before falling on the floor. "They're healthy. And they definitely don't like being touched by people they don't know of yet."

"True that!" Krebons snapped. "Look lady! Don't touch me like that! I'm more fragile than I look!"

Rinko huffed and grabbed the annoying tuner monster, and proceeded to throw him against the wall, resulting on Astral panicking and Eika being a bit impressed. The other leaders, plus Horus, sweatdropped at the girl's violent demeanor and temper.

Astral sniffled. "R-Rinko-san! K-Krebons could be seriously hurt!"

Rinko crossed her arms. "The only thing that hurts duel spirits are White Moon and Black Star weapons, technologies, and them being in a duel. Physical-human attacks, such as that throw I did, won't hurt him. Give him a headache, sure, but not seriously hurt him. So chill." She assured him.

Astral pouted, then stared at his currently dizzy duel spirit. "I-If you say so.."

Eika placed her hands on the young boy's forehead, who flinched and looked at her with fear. "You seem to be experiencing multiple emotions as of now. Fear, mostly." Eika grinned. "You look younger than Miharu-kun, despite being a year older."

Rinko frowned. This woman was creepy beyond creepy. Astral shuddered and ran behind Rinko. "S-She's scaring me.."

Ena went forward and grabbed Eika's arm. "Stop scaring the child, Eika."

"Fine." Eika whined. "Although, the kid himself needs to toughen up a bit. You can't be a good soldier if you keep cowering behind your friends." Eika pointed out. "Brutal truth, kid, but if you keep being soft and refuse to kill, you may end up killing yourself, or one of your friends can get in danger thanks to you."

Astral's elf like ears twitched, before he looked down. True.. he had always been hiding by allowing the others to protect him. Somehow, that made Astral feel weak. Tears threatened to spill again, but he forced himself not to. Eika was right.. he was a coward, and often hid behind his friends for comfort. He could place them in danger.

"As if anything could hurt me." Rinko huffed. "I'm fast enough, and I won't care if one of my friends would hide behind me. I'd protect them. So, I won't care if Astral has to hide behind me for protection. I'll take anything anyone throws at me.. except for lemons that life gives away for free."

"Quite proud of your speed, little girl? And you seem to be tough, too." Eika teased.

Eliphas coughed, causing the two leaders to nod and make way for Eliphas. As he was walking, Hokai and Miharu followed him from behind. "Astral Orianel Mist and Rinko Pyra Mikoron-Yutora, was it? Quite interesting names. It's rare for me to talk to soldiers in private, since Ena here does that most of the time. I shall introduce myself properly, then. I am Eliphas Origin, the leader of White Moon. You know Ena Asuka, the one who regularly checks up on the soldiers."

"Hello, dears." Ena greeted sweetly.

"The woman with curly hair is Eika Akumen. She sometimes checks on duel spirits to make sure they're tame. Kind of like a veterinarian." Eliphas explained, while the curly-haired smiled devilishly. "This boy behind me is Miharu Futami. And, this may be hard to believe.. but despite his young appearance.. Miharu is eighteen years old, as of now."

Astral and Rinko became confused. "No joke?"

Miharu blushed a bit. "I look like I'm twelve, eh? But I'm just the same height as Astral over there.. I'm the one who kinda calls the soldiers and gives them tasks."

"And lastly, this is Hokai Enigma." Eliphas pointed to the man behind him. He wore.. was that a _mask? _"He doesn't want his face to be seen, so Hokai hides it with a mask. He is the one who assists in research about the numbers."

"Pleasure to meet you, children."

Rinko somehow felt relaxed now. Eika and Eliphas made her a bit wary, but Miharu, Ena, and Hokai were nice, as it seemed. Astral seemed to have relaxed too, as he finally went forward, along with Rinko. Krebons, who now had a bump on his head, was still glaring at Eika for poking him, but Horus wasn't hostile anymore. "So." Rinko crossed her arms again. "You did not answer my question earlier. Why were we needed here?"

Eliphas cleared his throat. "While we only called for your spirit partners to see if they were still tamed and healthy, we summoned you two here to check your dueling abilities."

Astral squeaked out something. "I-I beg your pardon? What do you mean by that, sir..?"

Ena smiled softly. Astral was still scared of them, as it seems. Well, Astral had never been near adults much. "We simply want to watch you duel. If it's not too troubling, I suppose?"

"Not at all." Rinko replied. "But, I prefer to start duels with my special rule."

"We heard of that." Hokai said. "Both players start with their life points doubled, am I correct?"

"Y-Yes.. Rinko-san's special rule applies like that.." Astral answered for her. "S-So.. we were only asked to duel..? N-Nothing to lose, right?"

"Nothing at all." Miharu replied. "Although, I suggest that both of you take it easy. Rinko has injuries from earlier training, and Astral.. you have a lot of hospital records, and we certainly don't want to add anything."

"Fine." Both teens replied.

_~Seconds later~_

Astral was on the other side of the arena, his left sleeve rolled up to make room for his duel disk. Rinko did the same, although she exposed some of her bandages. The leaders were watching on the other side, as the spirit partners were beside their masters.

"D-Gazer, set."

Rinko took out her D-gazer, a flame-shaped one colored with orange and yellow, like her hair. Astral, however, held his hand to his right eye, making the gold eye shine a bit more.

_"So.. Astral's gold eye is a d-gazer.. I wonder where he got it?" _Thought Ena. "Ngh.. this supports my suspicion of Astral being the wielder of Numeron.." she whispered to herself.

"Duel disk set."

Astral's arm started glowing, until a weird looking duel disk, colored in blue, appeared. It looked sharp enough to poke someone's eye out, Miharu noticed. Rinko's duel disk was shaped like a flame, but it's color was orange and black. Both duelists stood in a fight-like position, before shouting.

"Duel!"

_**Turn 1**_

_Rinko, LP- 8000, __Hand- 5_

_Astral, LP- 8000, __Hand- 5_

"I'll go first, draw!" Rinko announced. "I activate the spell card, Burning Land. Both players take 500 damage during their respective standby phases. I set one monster face down, along with two cards. Turn end!"

**_Turn 2_**

_Rinko, LP- 8000, Hand- 2_

_Astral, LP- 8000, Hand- 5_

"My t-turn.. draw!" Suddenly, a fire ball appeared and hit Astral straight in the face. "Gwah!"

_Astral, LP- 7500, Hand- 6_

"Geh.. I summon Telekinetic Shocker.."

**_Telekinetic Shocker, LV 4, ATK- 1700, DEF- 700_**

"I use Telekinetic Shocker to a-attack your face down monster..!" Rinko's monster flipped face up, showing a metallic green turtle.

**_UFO Turtle, LV 4, ATK- 1400, DEF- 1200_**

As the turtle got sent to the graveyard, Rinko activated one of her face down cards. "Continuous trap, activate! Backfire! Whenever a FIRE monster is sent to the graveyard, my opponent takes 500 damage!"

_Astral, LP- 7000, Hand- 5_

"I then activate UFO Turtle's effect!" Rinko announced. "When this card is destroyed by battle, I get to special summon one FIRE monster with 1500 or less ATK from my deck in attack position! I choose.. Magna Drago!"

_**Magna Drago, LV 2, ATK- 1400, DEF- 600**_

"I s-set one card face down. Turn end..!"

**_Turn 3_**

_Rinko, LP- 8000, Hand- 2_

_Astral, LP- 7000, Hand- 4_

"My turn, draw!" Like the same case with Astral, a fire ball hit Rinko straight in the face. "Gwah! My cards are really risky.."

_Rinko, LP- 7500, Hand- 3_

"I special summon Inferno in defense position, by removing one monster in the graveyard from play."

**_Inferno, LV 4, ATK- 1100, DEF- 1900_**

"I now synchro summon with Magna Drago and Inferno! Synchro summon.. Flamvell Uruquizas!"

_**Flamvell Uruquizas, LV 6, ATK-2100, DEF- 400**_

"T-Trap activate! Threatening Roar! Y-You cannot attack this turn!" Astral stuttered.

"Hah! Chain! Continuous Trap, activate! Chain Burst! Whenever a trap card is activated, 1000 damage is given to the player who controlled that card!"

"Kyaaaaaaaa!" Astral cried.

_Astral, LP- 6000, Hand- 4_

"Turn end." Said Rinko.

**_Turn 4_**

_Rinko, LP- 7500, Hand- 2_

_Astral, LP- 6000, Hand- 4_

"D-Draw.." Another fireball had hit Astral. "W-Waaaaaaah!"

_Astral, LP- 5500, Hand- 4_

Astral started to sniffle. Rinko made a worried expression. "Hey! Don't cry! I'm sorry if the card hurts you so much, but you do know that my deck focuses on cards that deal effect damage, right?!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Astral sobbed. "I promised myself not t-to cry! I really am sorry, R-Rinko-saaan!"

Ena made a sad face. Astral was too fragile, and that wasn't helping at all. Rinko, and even Flamvell Uruquizas started pitying the younger teen. Rinko was about to forfeit, in order to stop her friend from taking too much damage, until Astral started glowing.

Wait, what? _Glowing?_

"What the..?" Miharu muttered. "What's happening to Astral?! This can't be any normal phenomenon!"

"Interesting." Eika commented. "I guess this means he's the wielder of Numeron, then!"

"The wielder of what?!" Rinko had heard the weird name, and decided to question it. However, the glow got brighter, and soon, all monsters and cards on the field vanished, signifying the game had ended. Astral's duel disk had disappeared, and Rinko put away her dueling gear, and ran to the glowing teen. "Astral! What in the name of Exodia, is going on?!"

_"No MoRe paIn. I wAnT to bE strOngeR. I dONt wanT To HIdE aNYmorE. I doNt waNT To CrY anYMorE."_

Astral sniffled, and the glow suddenly vanished. Once that was done, Astral stared at Rinko with confused, tear-filled eyes. "W-What happened..? Why has the du-duel ended?"

Rinko made another confused look. "Hey, I should be asking that! You glowed all of a sudden! But, are you alright?!" She then looked at the leaders with anger. "And you! What the hell is 'Numeron'?! Who wields it, and what on earth is it?! More importantly, why do you suspect that Astral wields whatever Numeron is?!"

Eika gulped. "So much for keeping it a secret, then.."

**-Meanwhile, White Moon, Floor 1, Lobby-**

"Takashi and the rest are taking a while.." Yuma commented. "I hope those Black Stars didn't hurt them! If they did, I'm gonna pummel 'em! Or.. talk to them in a friendly-manner.."

"I hope so as well, Yuma." Haruki replied. "It is rather worrying that they have not come back yet. I dearly wish they have gotten the number safely, otherwise.. we have lost another member, plus, a couple of our dear friends.."

Taimi was tapping her foot impatiently, her eyes glued to the entrance of the building. She was expecting Takashi and the rest to come back sooner. They were one of their friends after all.

As they were waiting, Haruki noticed two teens, the same age, walking side by side. One was being serious, while one was being a bit care-free. It reminded Haruki of the serious Dark, and carefree Hidenagi. They appeared to look alike, and they were chatting about some topic Haruki couldn't understand.

"Sis, we should visit uncle Michael. He's been working too much lately, so I wanna see if he's made any progress in the research he's been doing." One of the twins suggested. "He worries about us occasionally, so I want to help him as best as I can."

"I know, Selena. But we're busy with number hunting, remember? Once the boss gets some other soldiers to hunt, we'll visit uncle Michael on the lab, okay?" The older of the twins replied. "Ah, we should wait for Takashi-kun and the rest."

Haruki adjusted his uniform's collar quickly, and made his trademark smile. "Hello. It appears you are also acquainted with Todoroki-kun." He smiled brightly.

While one of the twins hid behind her sister as she appeared to be quite meek, the other shook his hand. "Nice to meet you.. I'm Sei Arclight, niece of Michael Arclight, one of the scientists here. Behind me is Selena, my younger twin."

"H-Hello there!" Selena greeted, shyly hiding behind Sei. Haruki made another smile, seeing as the girls were nice.

Suddenly, the alarm started beeping, and all soldiers looked to the screen, where Ena was. She seemed to have a panicked expression. Everyone, including Yuma, Sei, and Selena, stared at the screen, while Haruki and Taimi noticed something unusual behind Ena.

It seemed to be a twelve year old boy, and next to him was.. Rinko? Astral was there too! And so were Horus and Krebons! Taimi was about to say something, when Haruki cut her off. "Shush. I think this is a private matter, Taimi-chan."

"B-But..!" Taimi stuttered. She let out a sigh of defeat. "Fine.."

Ena started flipping the pages of a clipboard, before coughing awkwardly. "Dear soldiers of the White Moon, today, we bring out bad news. Today's number hunting ended in a failure, since the Black Star got the number first. But.. other than that." She made a sad look. "A black-haired soldier from Black Star has murdered our fellow members; Takashi Todoroki, Tetsuo Okeda, and Tokunosuke Omoteura. Our cameras saw them fighting with all their might, but in the end.. they died.."

"What?!" A girl shrieked. The gray-haired catgirl, known as Cathy, teared up. She was one of Yuma's friends, and was really close to Takashi. Taimi felt sad for the heartbroken teenager. "I-It can't be.. Takashi-kun said he wouldn't leave without me, nya!"

"T-Takashi!" Yuma yelled. "Tetsuo.. Tokunosuke..I.. won't forgive those Black Stars! They'll pay!" Yuma yelled, tears falling. "They killed my friends! OUR FRIENDS!"

"Yuma-kun." Taimi said sternly. Although, it was obvious that she was as shocked and angry as Yuma was. "We can't do anything at the moment! So stop yelling at the screen, and listen to what Ena-san has to say!"

"Sacrifices shall not be in vain!" Ena announced. "New hunters will take their place! Members have already been chosen!" Ena then turned around, revealing a still angry and confused Rinko, along with the scared Astral. Yuma's eyebrow raised, and many soldiers were heard whispering. Haruki and Taimi stared at Rinko, who was yelling at the twelve-year-old-looking boy. Astral was trying to calm her down.

"Soldiers Rinko Yutora and Astral Mist are the first two members chosen for daily hunting, chosen by Sir Eliphas himself. Soldiers Sei Arclight and Selena Arclight were chosen by Sir Eliphas, and me, Ena Asuka. These four soldiers shall be on a higher rank of soldiers, sorry 'bout that!"

More whispers were heard, as Haruki turned to the twins. "It seems you two are in a more important task than us. We are back-up soldiers, and you are lucky to be some of the main soldiers."

Sei frowned. Selena was still crying over the death of Takashi and the rest, so Sei tried her best to stay strong. "Still. They already picked members these fast? It's as if they knew Takashi and the rest were going to die! Just a theory, though. And who are those soldiers at the back of Ma'am Ena?"

Haruki crossed his arms. "They are our friends, Astral and Rinko. We do not know why they are with Ena-san, we advised Rinko to stay still at her room. She was injured from today's training."

"Maybe they were called for this reason?" Selena squeaked out. "Then again, if they were, why weren't me and Sei-neechan called too?"

"Who knows." Taimi joined in. "I think I'm going to make Cathy cheer up, along with Yuma-kun and Kotori-chan. See you later, Haru-kun."

As they waved goodbye, Haruki turned to the twins again. "Whatever is the reason, you are working with some of our friends. I wonder why they were chosen though.. Rinko is reckless, and Astral is a bit weak, so there must be a reason they were chosen."

"Whatever is the reason.." Sei then shows her metallic glove. "I can still fight with my powerful gun, Morphtronic."

* * *

**Me: Summary of this chapter should be; Astral can glow, Rinko is a rude bastard, Sei and Selena are precious twins, Lunar is a cutie, Siri is the big-sister type, Haruki is kind of a flirt, Takashi dies, Tetsuo dies, Tokunosuke dies, Yuma is angry that his friends are dead, Taimi is trying to act not-sad, and Eika is a creep.**

**Rinko: Lunar belongs to DarkInsanitySoul, Siri belongs to dragonwolf416, and the twins belong to AoLady. Thank you for letting them join the story of "TMOFTKON".**

**Tairo: This chapter focused on the White Moon. Next chapter will feature more Luna and Siri interactions, along with Ethan and Dark.**

**Review if ya like!**


	5. Chapter 5: Miharu's Hidden Intentions

**Me: 'Sup, guys! I changed my pen-name from "aothebluesamurai" to "aorinappollo"!**

**Ethan: We'll be getting new OCs for the story for today's chapter! Right now, it focuses more on Black Star, and the OCs mentioned last chapter, Lunar and Siri, plus two new OCs named Layla and Aristtea. Focuses more on the events of last chapter with White Moon, and focuses on the developing friendship between the two girls and the two DARK users.**

**Tairo: If you noticed, Rinko's attacks when physically fighting are based off FIRE-related cards, or cards that deal effect damage, like her deck. She lacks defense magic, unlike Astral who lacks attack magic.**

**Taimi: Also, Aorin-chan has successfully made.. 28 Zexal Characters!~**

**Rinko: We don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal. Zexal belongs to Konami. Sei, Selena, Lunar, Siri, Layla, and Aristtea belong to their respective authors. Me, Ethan, Tairo, Taimi, Haruki, Hidenagi, Mishka, Eika, Hokai and Miharu belong to Ao! Enjoy the story!**

**Quick note; Due to Rinko's boyish nature, most characters tend to use the suffix '-kun' instead of the usual '-chan', which is usually associated with girls or anything "cute". Since the suffix '-kun' is more masculine, some characters who aren't close to Rinko tend to call her 'Rin-kun' or 'Yutora-kun'.**

* * *

**-White Moon, Floor 98: The Assistants' Office-**

"I'll explain whatever Numeron is later, Yutora-kun! So please, calm down, we're not trying to hurt you or Astral!" Miharu assured the thrashing fiery girl. Rinko had forgotten completely about her supposed "manners" when around one of the five leaders, and had became demanding to know what Numeron is. Astral had already been scared to know why he turned into a flashlight for a minute, and became silent as he watched his friend summon a fireball.. What's worse that Eika had teleported herself and the others to the higher floor and had left Miharu behind to explain everything.

"Rinko-san! Don't hurt Miharu-sama!" Astral yelled out. Krebons had freaked out and hid behind Horus, while Horus hid behind Astral. Rinko's bracelet glowed brighter, as a giant fireball appeared on her palm, making Miharu freeze from the immediate violence.

"Don't expect me to help you without knowing what the hell's going on! I use **Hinotama!**" Rinko yelled, as the fireball produced more fireballs. Miharu grabbed something from his pocket; a green marble, as it turned into a glowing green dagger. Miharu held out the dagger in front of him defensively.

"Gah! Aegis! Protect us with **Chain Burst!**" Miharu yelled, as a barrier formed in front of him. Rinko's fireballs went straight to Miharu's barrier, which deflected it. Astral's eyes widened, and he jumped from his seat.

"Rinko! Stop!" Astral pleaded. "I don't want to get you executed for your ruthless behavior!"

"It's fine kid! I kinda understand her violence!" Miharu yelled, dodging abother fireball. "It's Eika's fault anyway! Why did she have to let me face the consequences for _her _actions?!"

Rinko immediately raised her hand, as her bracelet glowed brighter. "I'll break your barrier with **Fire Darts!**" Rinko said, extending her hand. Suddenly, small lights appeared on her sides, as she snapped her finger. The lights suddenly turned to little darts with fire on their tips. "I'm not the type of person that helps people out of pity!"

Before the darts could hit Miharu, a stronger and bigger barrier had formed in front of Miharu. "What the..?!" Miharu muttered.

Rinko turned and found Astral's arm glowing. His arm canon, Wave-Motion was around his right arm, and he closed his eyes fearfully. "I s-said stop, Rinko-san! We don't want to hurt Miharu-san, do we..?!" Astral yelled out. "S-She's just worried! She secretly feels crushed because of Takashi-san's and the other soldiers' deaths.. s-she's just being protective!"

Rinko's hand fell limp, as the darts disappeared. Astra's barrier also vanished, as Rinko looked up to Miharu with a bit of guilt. "S-Sorry.. I shouldn't have acted so recklessly. Astral's..right." She turned to Astral, who still had his arm cannon. "..Thanks."

Astral nodded slowly, and the arm canon turned back to it's normal form; a watch. "T-The barrier was called.. **Spirit Barrier. **It's a b-barrier that protects those who are found good at heart..Miharu doesn't plan anything against us!" Astral explained. He turned to Miharu once again. "N-Now.. what is Numeron, exactly?"

"And while you're at it, tell us what just happened?"

The three turned to the door and found two look-a-likes standing in front of the door. Miharu had realized they were the twins who were part of the replacement team. The older twin crossed her arms. "Geez.. first we see those two making a ruckus in the background while Ena-san is talking, and we find her attempting to kill a twelve-year-old?"

"For your information, I'm eighteen! I'm the just same height as Astral!" Miharu countered. His dagger had turned back to a marble, as he shoved it back in his pocket. "Now, I take it you are the Arclight twins, Sei and Selena?"

Sei nodded, and Selena waved to the two younger teens. Astral had hid behind Rinko out of shyness, while Rinko approached the two girls, and extended her hand. "So.. we'll be working together, as it seems. I'm Rinko Yutora." She said awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. Sei shook her hand suspiciously, while Selena shook it shyly.

Astral's hand extended behind Rinko, a shy expression across his face. "M-My name is Astral Mist. N-Nice to meet you.." He said softly. Sei, once again, shook his hand with caution, and this time, Selena shook it eagerly. Unlike Rinko, Astral seemed to be no threat at all!

Miharu had coughed to get their attention. "Now that introductions are out of the way, I am Miharu Futami, one of the five leaders." Miharu said. "Now, you are all here, and I was tasked by the other four to explain our current situation. So, please take a seat. Er.. Krebons and Horus can take a seat too.. I'll go get some tea and snacks, so stay still, okay?"

"Who..?" Selena asked curiously. She nearly jumped out of her skin once she saw the little dragon and the weird mini humanoid-android thing. "S-Spirit partners?"

"Horus is my spirit partner." Rinko explained. "He's extremely wary of strangers, but he won't bite. He just breathes blue flames." Rinko said casually.

_"That's reassuring, you little devil."_ Sei thought sarcastically. _"On the other hand.. this Astral-guy seems innocent."_

"What is that thing..?" Selena whispered to Astral, who looked at her confusingly.

"Huh? He's my spirit partner, naturally.." Astral said. "He's a bit of a meanie towards some people he doesn't know-"

"Bull." Rinko huffed. "He's known me for years now, and he still treats me like a candy wrapper across the street. He's a freaking mini-android-humanoid thing with a bit ego."

Krebons crossed his arms. "It's not my fault you are too short tempered! Hah! You don't even act like a lady in the slightest!"

Before Krebons saw it coming, a fireball had hit him in the face. The twins, plus Astral, found Rinko's finger pointing towards where Krebons was earlier. Miharu, who was taking out tea cups, and preparing tea had thought for a moment.

_"This is something to report to those four leaders. Rinko had managed to attack me earlier, without even using Salamandra! It's as if she can use magic naturally, without an aid of a weapon." _Miharu thought. _"It's either her or Astral who wields Numeron. Astral's emotions seem to release energy waves, and even cause him to become a temporary flashlight. Rinko's powers can activate, even without her weapon."_

Miharu sighed as he bought the tea to the teenagers. He was going to have to explain what was the current situation. Rinko and Astral were both suspects for wielding Numeron, and Sei and Selena were needed for another reason.. Huh, he might regret even accepting the position as one of the five leaders, but there is no way in hell will he regret telling what Numeron is to a bunch of kids.

"Um.. one thing." Miharu uttered. "Please.. Yutora-kun. If it's not too much.. can we let out Horus for awhile? Krebons can stay, but.. Horus needs to go outside for awhile." Miharu asked, staring at the little black dragon. Horus seemed to be confused, and let out a confused whine.

"Why?" Rinko asked, crossing her arms. "Horus is a tamed duel spirit. He won't attack anyone, unless I order him to. Or, if he sees me get attacked, he'll automatically back me up and attack, nevertheless."

"I have reasons. It's important.. so, please?" Miharu pleaded. "I'll explain to you later why once I explain what Numeron is. For now, just let Horus go outside for awhile." Miharu repeated. Astral and Krebons seemed to be confused, and so did Sei and Selena. Rinko seemed suspicious, but sighed.

Without another reply, Rinko opened the door and patted her knees. "C'mon Horus. Wait outside, okay?" She said. Horus seemed to have made a whine, but followed his master anyway. "I'll see you later, bud."

As Horus went outside and the door was shut, a glow emitted from the little dragon, shocking him. "K-Kyuu?"

* * *

**-Black Star, Floor 1: Lobby-**

The members of Black Star watched as Dark thrash around, with Ethan trying to stop him. Lunar was clinging onto Siri due to watching the black-haired boy attempt to kill himself with his magic. Akari and Mishka were worriedly watching him. Ethan tried his best to keep his glasses on his face, as he didn't want to break them again. It was enough trouble for one of the five leaders of Black Star to get him new pairs of glasses every time.

"Lemme go, Ethan! I murdered my friends!" Dark yelled. "I didn't want to kill them! I-It was an accident! They're my friends! _Astral's _friends!" He yelled repeatedly. Ethan clung to his waist, and attempted to stop him from using his magic to destroy the building. "I don't deserve to live!"

"C-Calm down, Dark!" Ethan replied. "Look, they're your friends from the past! We're enemies now, there's nothing we can do about it! They were White Moon soldiers, Dark! You can't see them as friends anymore, I'm sorry, but this is work, and we need to do it!"

Mishka turned to Akari, whose hand was covering her eyes, which were leaking. Mishka knew that Akari knew those soldiers, as they were her brother's friends. "They were good kids. That Tokunosuke kid was a bit creepy at first, but he's more sensitive than he looks. Takashi was a bit of a walking textbook, but he's got a kind heart. And then there's Tetsuo.. he's always been Yuma's childhood friend." Akari muttered, before walking away.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Hidenagi and Tairo. Earlier, when they heard that Dark and Ethan successfully got a number, they were planning to give him a little surprise party. But after finding out the soldiers were their friends, they instantly became quiet. Mishka didn't know what to do. Because, unlike Ethan, she didn't get that much of a chance to get to know Dark. She didn't even know who "Astral" was, and why that person meant so much to Dark.

She then noticed a teenage girl approaching Dark and Ethan, with a white-haired girl clinging onto her.

"Dark, stop!" Siri ordered. "Crying about it won't change the past, Dark! You're being selfish about this!" Siri yelled. "They're dead, nothing we can do about it! It was just an accident, you didn't know, and you were just doing your job, so get over it already! It was either grab the number and kill them, or hesitate to grab the number, and let White Moon do what they wish!"

There was a little silence, before Dark uttered out an "okay". Lunar sighed in relief, and approached Dark shyly.

"J-Just give it more time, okay? Wounds will heal eventually." Lunar said softly. To her surprise, Dark didn't lash out at her, but just simply nodded. Tairo and Hidenagi were seen making a little sad smile, before heading to the training room again. Mishka checked her watch briefly, before giving one last glance at her cousin and Dark.

_"See you later, Ethy, Daru-kun.."_

* * *

**-Black Star, Floor 99: The Leader's Office-**

The leader of the Black Star company, Don Thousand, sat as he watched today's events. He wasn't surprised that this "Dark" guy would thrash and flail around like a fish out of water once he found out that some White Moon soldier were his friends. He wasn't surprised either to know that one of his most faithful soldiers, Lunar, had managed to calm him down with just words.

"Mizael!" Don yelled. "I want you to give me files regarding.. Soldiers #5814 and 4111. While you're at it, give me Soldier #5307's file as well."

Mizael, a blond teen with a ponytail, turned to him, carrying some files. Even though he was one of the five leaders, he preferred to do tasks on his own. He groaned, and pulled out three different colored folders; a purple, black, and gray folders. "I have no idea why you're so fascinated with them. I mean seriously, it's like this in a nutshell: You recite random soldier numbers every day, then you read their files!."

"Aristtea!" Don yelled, ignoring Mizael. "Can you get me some tea? Oh, and maybe a dragon-shaped pastry for Miza-chan too?" He smirked, watching Mizael's reactions.

In seconds, a young girl came inside the room, carrying trays, while walking gracefully. "Your tea, Lord Thousand." She turned to Mizael, and gave him his food. "Your desert, Sir Mizar." She said politely, as she left the room. "If you require anything else to go with your snacks, please do not hesitate to call me."

Mizael took a bite off his cake. "She's really responsible for a twelve-year-old. What's her actual name again? Aristtea.."

"Hance." Don finished, sipping his tea as he scanned over the files. "She's the youngest hunter, and her weapon is a necklace that turns into a whip. Her deck focuses on the attribute 'FIRE', see."

"Kinda reminds me of that incident a few months ago.." Mizael uttered. Don looked at him curiously.

"Pardon?"

"Well.. White Moon has a lot of soldiers like us, right? Well.. they also have a soldier, that can use fire-related abilities, and her weapon seems to be a blue sword. Despite us not knowing anything about the members of the White Moon, she's rarely out for a hunt, as if they're afraid of sending her to do a mission. The mission a few months ago, was to retrieve two numbers, which were Number 24: Pyra, the Flame Goddess, and Number 18: Diablo, the Ruler of Nightmares. Semimaru, Kurage, and Kaninja were sent to retrieve those numbers, while White Moon had sent that girl, an older blonde who looked like Tairo, and a red-haired guy."

_"Tairo-look-a-like? That spider-haired child who can barely ride a duel runner?" _Don thought to himself. _"Huh, he did mention once that he has an older named Taimi.. he also states that she is in White Moon, so chances are high that it's probably her.."_

"Semimaru dueled the fire user, Kurage dueled the Tairo-look-a-like, and Kaninja dueled the red-haired guy. The blondie seemed to focus on defense, while the red-haired focused on ruining his opponent's defenses.. the youngest, the fire user.. was downright reckless. Her cards were focused on dealing effect damage to her opponent, and occasionally, herself."

"Sounds interesting." Don chuckled. "Guess she is devoted to her team."

"Her companions repeatedly called out for her to see if she was fine, which she replied with a glare, as we heard. Apparently, she's stubborn, and is a tomboy. She won against Semimaru, along with her two companions. Still changes nothing of that girl being reckless as hell."

"Hm. It would be nice if there were a lot more people taking risks for the prize, right? Did you happen to get a name or anything?" Don asked. "We might have some info on that girl. After all, we kinda stole hospital records during the day of the kidnapping." Don said casually, giggling on the last sentence. Stealing was fun for him, and watching everyone's horror filled faces that day was simply amusing.

Mizael huffed. "You really are a bastard.. Ugh, and as for the name.. Kurage said it was "Rinko", since her friends kept calling her that whenever she got hurt. I have to admit, it kinda doesn't fit her, since it sounds like a name you'd give to an actual woman.. that girl is practically a guy trapped within a girl's body. Plus she's more of a brat."

"Interesting." Don commented. "Good thing we have hospital files, huh? Just search for the name 'Rinko'."

"Got it already, since I figured you'd be interested." Mizael said, pulling out another folder. He handed it to Don, who read through the info silently. His eyes widened as he saw the name, and immediately pulled Mizael's ponytail, causing the latter to wince. "You bastard, that hurt! Ow!"

"Look. At. Her. Full. Name." Don pointed. "Pyra? It's like a bit of a similarity with Ethan's second name, Ceres. And look. Two last names. Both are Mikoron and Yutora. Just like Ethan's." Don added. "Plus, Ethan has a bit of a memory problem regarding his past. All he remembers is he was on a boat accident, and he lost both of his parents, plus his sister. It's possible that this lady is her."

"Pfft. Lady? She's a beast." Mizael replied. "And there is a chance you're right. However. It's early too assume everything, and I think it's best if we don't tell anything to him and his cousin, Mishka. Hell, we saw how that Mist kid acted when he found out that those White Moon soldiers were his friends. I'm pretty sure that Ethan hides a hellotta negativity inside him."

* * *

**-White Moon, Floor 1: Lobby-**

"C'mon, c'mon.." A young woman uttered, staring at the picture of the young Arclight Twins, Sei and Selena. "What's taking them so long?! Argh, I swear, Michael! If you haven't told the leaders about that stupid power yet, Sei-chan and Selena-chan wouldn't have gotten involved!"

"Ugh..who are you and who're you talking to, ma'am?" Asked a gray-haired boy. The young woman looked at him, and saw how the obviously younger boy. He was pale, had gray hair, two black hairclips, a gray shirt, a black hoodie, purple eyes, and black glasses. "And why're you talking to no one in particular?"

"Gah! You scared me!" She shrieked, before adjusting herself. "Ugh, never mind! Who're you?"

The boy blinked, before chuckling. "I believe I asked first, ma'am." He said, adjusting his glasses, and sitting on the bench beside her. The young woman let out a huff, before fixing her hair and uniform.

"Touché, little gray haired boy. My name is Layla Arclight." She said. "And as for your other question, I was talking to no one." She said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "People do that a lot, y'know?"

The gray-haired tilted his head. "Really? I thought my mistress was the only one that does that!"

Layla snorted. "Mistress? Wow, that's a grand name to call your girlfriend!" She said. "And you look like that young duel trainer.. Alan Mako, was it? Yeah, you look like him! I heard he has a twin, but his twin also has dark green eyes, and two purple feathers on his gray hair. You look a bit like 'im, except your eyes are purple, and you wear glasses and a hoodie." Layla explained. "And I think you've heard of Sei and Selena Arclight?"

The gray-haired nodded. "As a matter of fact, me, my mistress, and her friends met them today! They were just recently announced to join the main team, since.. well, the three soldiers recently died and all."

"Those two are my nieces." Layla said. "Michael Arclight, one of the scientists, is my cousin. Michael's eldest brother, Chris, is Sei and Selena's dad. Their mom is at another country, and can't come back, due to the current situation here at Heartland." Layla added. "Their mom is a really nice lady. A bit of a Tsundere, but kind, you know? The middle child of of the family is Michael's older brother and Chris' younger brother. His name is Thomas, and he's kind of like a maniac."

Before Layla could share anymore stories, the gray-haired suddenly gasped, and gripped his chest, grunting as he was in pain. Layla noticed, and immediately became worried. "What's wrong?!"

"N-Nothing! This probably means I better return to my mistress now!" He gasped, standing up. Layla grabbed his arm.

"So you and your girlfriend know when you need each other?" Layla asked, eyebrow raised. The gray-haired laughed weakly, before coughing and pulling his arm away from the confused lady.

"N-No. She's not my girlfriend, she's my mistress! I live to serve her, since she summoned me to this world." He coughed. Layla became more confused, and tilted her head. "W-What I mean is.. actually, I'll tell you some other time! See you later, Layla-san!"

"Wait! I still don't know what your name is!"

He turned to Layla one last time, and the other noticed how his purple eyes seemed to slowly.. change? It was turning a darker shade of purple! His hair had become more solid-looking, and his skin was turning a bit scaly. "..Horus. My mistress calls me Horus." He said, before dashing to the elevator, leaving Layla more confused than ever, as the photo she had been gripping crumple.

* * *

**Me: Oh look. There's a gray-haired OC who has the same name as Rinko's ace, Horus the Black Flame Dragon. So, Layla belongs to Lee-Lee2306, and Aristtea belongs to Ariette5. Currently, Arristtea is the youngest character who has been shown in the story, as she is 12 years old.**

**Rinko: In case some of you don't know, Alan has made a cameo in "Black and White", in Vector's flashback, along with his siblings, Murasaki and Yoshi. Aorin decided to bring them back as actual characters. As for Mia Caris and Mika Inumi.. I'm sad to say that Mia won't be appearing, and I'm happy to say that Mika won't be appearing.**

**Tairo: Next Chapter; The main team of both White Moon and Black Star get sent out on a hunt! But Rinko, Sei, and Selena discover something about Astral and Rinko's spirit partner, Horus.**

**Review if ya like!~ **


	6. Chapter 6: Battle at the Chaos Zone

**Me: This story has slightly been turning popular. I'm honored to put your wonderful OCs in my story! And I'm not too lazy today, so I decided to write another chapter before my Christmas Break is over.**

**Rinko: Aorin's OCs that will appear in this chapter are Me, Human Horus, Miharu, Eika, Hokai, Haruki, Taimi, Ethan, Hidenagi, Tairo, Mishka, and Murasaki. OCs that belong to other people are Sei, Selena, Lunar, Siri, Layla, and the newcomer, Christopher. Enjoy the story, we do not own Zexal. Aristtea won't be appearing in this chapter, since she's at the company. She'll appear next chapter, though.**

* * *

**-White Moon Rooftop-**

"Are all of you now well-informed of the situation?" Ena asked. A few hours after Rinko and Astral's duel, and Miharu's explaining of whatever Numeron is, they had detected a number nearby, so obviously, they wanted to catch it. Ena noticed that Miharu was a bit exhausted from handling Rinko's outbursts, so she and Hokai decided to take care of this matter. "We need Numbers to find the Numeron Code! And of course, we might find out who is the wielder of such power. You are the main hunting team from now on, and you are no longer back-up. Your spirit partners shall be of assistance! But.. Sei and Selena? You two do not have spirit partners?"

Sei shrugged. "During the examinations, our teamwork was good enough to not have a spirit partner. We can use Gemini Magic, so it doesn't matter if we don't have a spirit partner. Our powers are connected that way." Sei explained, while Selena nodded in agreement.

"Five more minutes." Rinko said. "Horus is still not here. I told Miharu to bring Horus here if he found him somewhere." Rinko sighed. She had immediately become a bit worried for the missing little black dragon, but since Number Hunting was so important, she had asked Miharu to help. Astral was beside her, along with Krebons. "Where on earth did he run off to? I told him to wait, since Miharu had been telling me that Horus was exposing too much magic energy."

"I wonder why. Maybe it's because of that glow from Astral during your duel." Hokai interrupted. "Astral has a really high chance of being Numeron's wielder. That little incident earlier is practically explaining all of this." Hokai pointed out, adjusting his mask a bit. "Horus might have been too close to the glow. Krebons was a bit farther from Astral, and Rinko and the rest of us were far away from him. Horus might have been exposed to the magical energy."

"Nothing bad'll happen to him, right?" Rinko asked worriedly. "And if Astral is the wielder of Numeron, he'll still be able to live like a normal kid, right?"

Astral chuckled nervously, before hiding behind Rinko again. "I'm not capable to handle a power like Numeron. The way Miharu-sama explained it sounds very scary. B-Besides.. I'm too weak to be Numeron's wielder. I'm nothing but a coward.."

"W-Well, we need to be brave!" Selena said as she pat Astral's shoulder. "If one of us is the wielder of Numeron, we just have to make sure he wields it properly, and doesn't go berserk!" Selena added.

As everyone chatted with one another, Hokai and Ena had brought out weird looking backgear, and had stuck them on Rinko's, Astral's, Sei's, and Selena's backs, causing the teens to yelp. Hokai then pulled out something of the gear, then started dusting them off a bit. "These are mechanical wings. You'll need them to fly." He explained, pulling out the wings. "Yutora-kun's is a devil style, Mist-kun's is an angel style, and the Arclight's are crystal shards. We haven't used them in awhile, but since the previous main team had died.. we decided to be a bit more cautious. Pull out your weapons."

Rinko's bracelet started to glow, and so did Astral's watch, Sei's metallic glove, and Selena's metallic bracelet.

"Let's go, Salamandra!"

"Come forth, Wave-Motion!"

"Get ready, Morphtronic!"

"Come on out, Lexida!"

In a second, all accessories transformed into weapons. Rinko's bracelet turned into a sword, Astral's watch turned into an arm canon, Sei's glove turned into a gun, and Selena's bracelet also turned into a sword. Both Rinko and Selena stared at each other awkwardly, noticing similarities.

"Uh.. you use a sword too?" Rinko asked, staring at Selena's sword. It looked a bit bigger and longer compared to hers, but at least Selena didn't show any difficulty holding it. "And it's original form is a bracelet too. Neat."

Selena stared at Rinko's sword. A bit shorter, and it looked like one of those default swords that her uncle Michael had. Blue, and a bit small, but Rinko seemed to hold it as if it wasn't too heavy. "Yours looks like that certain card, and it's also called 'Salamandra'. You named it after that card, huh?"

"Speaking of cards.." Hokai approached Rinko once again. "I researched your deck a bit.. and I think you should remove the card 'Masked Dragon' from it." Hokai stated. "That card may be a FIRE attribute, but it only summons dragons. Your deck doesn't have too much dragons, you know."

"But I don't have a card that can replace it! If I remove that card from my deck, I'll only have thirty nine cards." She countered. She nearly fell of the building when Hokai had thrust a card right into her face. "What the hell?!"

"Take this. It fits your deck better, and it's also a FIRE attribute monster." Hokai said. "His name is Uria, and as it says in his card, he is the Lord of Searing Flames. You can sacrifice your three continuous trap cards to summon him. Now, give me your card, I want to make sure the main teams' decks are balanced and perfect." Hokai stated seriously.

Rinko huffed, and took out one of her cards, and traded it for the other card. She seemed to be confused on why the monster had to be a shade of pink of all things, but took it anyway. "Just so you know.. Horus is still my ace." She added, and marched towards the door. "And I'm still waiting for Miharu to show up with my dragon, and-"

"Sorry I'm late, Yutora-kun! Horus was wandering around like a lost animal!" Miharu yelled, barging in, and nearly bumping on the fire-haired girl. He had Horus in tow, and the little black dragon started to jump in excitement. "You're about to leave for your first hunt, right? Good luck to you and the rest, okay?"

"You betcha." Krebons giggled. "C'mon, c'mon! Oh, Master! Be careful, alright?"

"Selena, you too! Be careful alright?" Sei instructed, making the younger twin blush in embarrassment.

"Horus, where were you? No matter, it's time to hunt." Rinko said, as the mechanical wings started to flap until they were on the air.

"Best of luck to you!" Ena called, waving her arms frantically. "Return with the number safely, and if you encounter the other company's team, show no mercy!"

* * *

**-White Moon, Floor 13, Dormitory Section E-**

"Astral-kun is really in trouble." Uttered Taimi repeatedly. Yuma was with Alit, who was giving him extra training. Haruki had been taking a little nap, as he was worried about the safety of the main team. Taimi tried to calm herself, but was failing at it terribly.

She stopped on her tracks once she saw a familiar face. "Oh! Christopher!"

Said male turned around, and made a little smile, approaching the spider-haired woman. Taimi met him during the examinations, when he was worrying that he'd get thrown out painfully. When he passed, Taimi was the first one to congratulate him, and they started talking a bit more. They didn't hang out much, since Christopher was always training, but when he did have free time, he'd spend it with Taimi or Astral.

He liked Taimi a bit, to be honest. She was pretty, nice, and a bit of a playful soul too. She can get a bit scary sometimes, but she'd cool down faster than anyone. Astral also liked him, and like how he called the other older guys, called him "Nii-chan". He was cute, and he never saw Astral get angry. Sure he gets upset, but not angry. As for people whose heads don't cool down easily.. he wasn't fond of Rinko that much. Taimi introduced him to the bratty little fiend, and that moment was when they swore to be eternal rivals. That was also the reason Rinko didn't want to lose a duel; both of them couldn't lose to anyone else, but each other.

"Hello, Taimi." He greeted cheerfully. His cheeks turned a bright shade of red once the female approached her. "How are you? Fine, I hope." He said, playing with the collar of his uniform.

Taimi frowned. "Meh. Worried, y'know? Astral and Rinko-chan are now part of the main team! Is the leader nuts?! Astral is too weak!" She cried. "I'm quite suspicious of them! Then again, who isn't'?"

"I'm worried too, Taimi. But let's keep in mind that Rinko is there to protect him. Even if she's a reckless little girl, she won't put anyone in danger, unless it's herself." Christopher said reassuringly. He was pleased when Taimi smiled, and all her doubt vanished.

"You're right. I'm just.. worried, y'know? Astral doesn't have any relatives, other than his older brother, whose location is who-knows-where. Rinko-chan's parents divorced and abandoned her once her older sibling died, and she was taken in by Kotori-chan and Ms. Katya, Kotori-chan's mom." Taimi explained. "My little brother's at Black Star, and.. I don't wanna hurt him. But I don't want him to hurt them either!"

"What you need is a therapist, Taimi. You're freaking out more than usual.." Christopher sighed. "Come with me, I have a friend at the resting area than might be able to help you calm down. She's kind of a therapist, and she's the Arclight Twins' auntie." He said cheerily. "C'mon, her room's just right here. She's a bit younger than us, but she's really calm."

"She sounds cool." Taimi smiled. "What's her name?"

"Layla Arclight. Most people call her 'Lala-chan' or something. She thinks it sounds cute, so she likes the name."

* * *

**-Heartland City, Public Park-**

"We're here." Announced Sei as she and the rest of the soldiers landed. Astral was a bit shaken, due to the capability of the wings that Hokai gave them. Selena was a bit shaken too, but she and Rinko were fine. Rinko had landed on the branch of a tree, with Horus. Sei and Selena had landed on top of the park's café. Astral, however, landed on top of a fountain."Get down, Astral, we're gonna look for the number!"

"W-Wait.. how?" Astral tried to balance himself on the fountain, and was failing at it. He started to yell out of fear uncontrollably.

Rinko ran to the fountain, extending her arms. "Jump, Astral. I'll catch you." She said, Horus skipping to her side. Astral nervously nodded and jumped off the fountain. Rinko had managed to catch him, as she stumbled a bit. "Oof. You're not that heavy, which is good."

"You're so strong!" Selena chirped. "Oh, and why is Astral-kun not that heavy? He's quite thin and pale, too.."

"Meh, he doesn't eat much. He prefers eating salads as snacks, right? Plus, he doesn't eat meat or any pastry that much, making him an itty-bitty.. weak, because of the lack of food." She said, as she put Astral down.

"Y-Yes.. Anyway, we should look for the number before the soldiers of Black Star do.."

**_Thump, Thump, Thump.._**

Selena took out her sword and pointed it straightly at a tree. "Who goes there?!" She yelled, preparing an attack. Sei took out her gun and aimed at the opposite direction, while Rinko and Horus inspected all directions, preparing five fireballs. Astral, however, was in the middle with Krebons, preparing his magic.

"Astral. Prepare terrain magic." Rinko ordered, earning a nod from Astral.

"Very well.. Terrain Magic, activate.." As Astral mumbled those words, a glowing light emitted from him, the scenery changing a bit. "Terrain Magic, send us to the world full of nothingness, a world where nobody can hide anything.. **Chaos Zone!**"

As the entire park glowed, a very blinding light forced the soldiers to close their eyes.

* * *

**-Terrain Magic: Chaos Zone-**

Once the White Moon soldiers opened their eyes, they realized they were floating. Rinko looked around cautiously, inspecting Astral's terrain magic. While Rinko's terrain magic was usually focused on changing the location to a burning hell, Astral's terrain magic mostly focused on bringing them into different dimensions. They were in a place filled with swirling blue portals, floating blue crystals, and occasionally, there were broken floors one could still walk on.

"Damn it!"

Sei whirled around and saw a Black Star soldier, preparing his number hunting equipment. Astral memorized every inch of his face.. he was a man older than him, had spiky purple hair, glasses, and emerald eyes. Beside him was a white haired girl with black strands, mismatched eyes of black and white, a tad bit older than him, but younger than the twins, and her hair was long. The guy had devil wings, like Rinko's, and the girl had wing's that resembled an angel's. They were red, though.

Unknown to the White Moon soldiers, they were Black Star's very own Ethan and Lunar.

"Two soldiers from the opposite team?" Selena wondered aloud, putting her sword down. Honestly, they didn't look like threats at all.

"Great.. just because Mist-kun and Siri-san suggested to split up.." Lunar grumbled, preparing her scythe.

Ethan went in front of her, and took out an emerald necklace. "Lunar-san. Get the number, and run until the terrain magic wears off. I'll handle this." He assured her. In an instance, Lunar had flew away from the group, prompting Rinko to get aggressive.

"Sei, Selena! Chase that girl!" Rinko ordered, as the twins flew after her. "Krebons, Horus! I sense two more enemy soldiers on the opposite side! Grab the number!" The dragon and the humanoid nodded as the flew away, leaving the fiery fiend with Astral. "Astral. Let's fight this nerd."

"H-Hey." Ethan was mildly offended by the name, but was confused. Astral.. that was a familiar name. This boy looked familiar too. "I have a name, you know! And mind you, I'm stronger than I look!" He said, as his emerald necklace transformed into a bow and arrow. The arrow's tip was glowing, making the two younger teens get defensive. "Alright, Catastor. Let's use our dark magic to stop these brats. **Allure of Darkness**,drown my enemies into eternal darkness!"

The arrow was sent straight into Astral's chest, causing the latter to yelp in pain, and crash into one of the broken stone floors. The arrow then disappeared from his chest, and back into Ethan's hand. Rinko stared worriedly into Astral, her eyes full of hatred for Ethan. "You.. what the hell did you do to him?!" She yelled. Astral had somehow fainted, and he was snoring, as if he was sleeping.

"That just causes them to black out for a few minutes. Nothing special." Ethan grinned, preparing to strike. "Now, let's make sure you're tucked in as well."

"Hell no." Rinko aimed Salamandra at him. "Whoever you are, I'm going to let you know one thing. I am not forgiving to those who hurt my friends! Now, Salamandra, let's burn this bastard! **Hinotama**!"

Meanwhile, Lunar had flew away as fast as she could, the number in her palm. It hurt and stung, true, but she was doing this for the sake of the company. As she tried to outrun the twins, she felt something burn in her back. Eyeing her mechanical wings, her eyes widened as she saw one of them had been burned.

"Morphtronic!" Sei yelled, aiming her gun at Lunar. "Take her down with **Divine Wind**!"

Lunar felt her body suddenly get lighter, as the strong winds forced her to release the number from her grip. Selena grabbed it, causing her to yelp in pain as the number sent a painful feeling through her body. Sei gasped and rushed to her sister. "Selena! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine, sis.." Selena panted, preparing Lexida. She then handed the card to Sei, who also winced at the feeling the number sent. It hurt, but those cards were just powerful like that. "My turn.. Lexida! **Strike Slash**!"

Selena flew to Lunar, her sword glowing. Lunar quickly reacted and put her scythe in front of her. "I don't think so! **Magic Jammer**!" Green chains suddenly came out from the blue portals, and wrapped themselves around Selena's arms. The girl flailed, unable to attack.

"Let go of my sister!" Sei yelled, preparing Morphtronic. "**Big Bang Shot**!"

As Sei fired an orange beam at Lunar, Lunar was pushed away by another Black Star soldier, who blocked the attack with her spear. She smirked, then looked at Lunar. "Are you okay, Lunar-chan?" Lunar nodded, as she prepared to attack Selena, who was now free. "Heh. It's a two against two!"

Back with Rinko, she was struggling to fight the older male, as he was using varieties of magic that will most likely, put her to sleep. Speaking of sleep, Astral had slowly waked up from his nap, but his head hurt, so he was still resting. "R-Rinko-san.." He coughed, wanting to help. Unfortunately, the fiery fiend had forced him to stay still, and only enter the battle when needed.

"Tch. This bastard's strong." She huffed, wiping her forehead. "Hey, four-eyes! We're going nowhere with this!"

Ethan stopped. She had a point. "True, true.. How about we duel? Whoever wins gets the number those two duel spirits are finding. Deal?"

"Deal."

Meanwhile, with Horus and Krebons, the two were searching for the number, sniffing around the place. Krebons had discovered that if he went inside one of the portals, he'd end up on the other side of the mysterious world. Currently, Krebons was trying out all portals, while Horus was searching straight forward.

That was, until a light emitted from Horus.

"Huh?!" Krebons had noticed the little dragon started glowing. "Horus?!"

Back with Rinko, she was about to prepare her duel disk, before Astral started glowing, as he did while he and Rinko dueled. He was squirming, and was screaming in pain, his eyes shut tight. Rinko and Ethan immediately paused their attempt to duel as another sound echoed throughout the Chaos Zone.

"That sound.. Horus?!"

* * *

**Me: I'm ending it like this, because why not. My birthday's coming up on the 17th! :D**

**Rinko: We know Aorin.. Anyway, Aorin had composed a SONG about this story.. and it sounds decent. She even made a poem about this! Sheesh..**

**Me: The new guy is Christopher Joseph Hughes, a character by sonofthetrigod. He also requested that Taimi would be his love interest, and Rinko would be his rival, so I accepted! Oh, another thing; For those who might have gotten annoyed at this, I'm going to say this.. I AM NOT SHIPPING ASTRAL WITH ANYONE HERE. That includes Rinko. Astral and Rinko just have a sibling-like relationship, since Astral misses his forgotten brother so much. (But if you ship Rinko and Astral, I can't say I blame you. Even if I don't ship them, I thought of a shipping name. XD)**

**Review if ya like!**


	7. Chapter 7: Horus' New Form

**Me: Okay, time to type! As usual, I don't own Siri, Lunar, Sei, Selena, Aristtea, Layla, or Christopher! I'm happy this story's getting famous and all!**

**Rinko: Ugh.. I'm tired! Can't I take a break, or something?**

**Me: Nononono! We must keep the readers entertained!**

**Rinko: You demon.**

**Me: That's coming from the devil's mouth..**

**Taimi: Hey! Stop fighting! Oh, enjoy the story, while I stop these two, okie?~**

* * *

**-Black Star, Floor 99: The Leader's Office-**

"Well, well, well.." Mizael sighed. "Speaking of the devil, it's the devil herself. Facing her possible brother." Mizael said, eating the pastry Aristtea gave him. The twelve year old was beside him, staring at the screen that was showing the fight between the teams. Her eyes were focused on the screen, darting to any kind of magic that appeared. She was also furiously scribbling on her pink notepad.

"Hm. The blue boy's magic levels are higher than all of them! Interesting. With a power of nine million point ninety-nine percent, he can't be a normal magic user. He has the highest amount of magic energy I've ever seen. But he's barely fighting, and is only doing support magic." Aristtea noted. "The girl's magic levels are very weak in the defensive and supporting side, but she's really fast and good with offensive magic! Eight-million point forty percent for her use of offensive magic. She lacks support magic, but can make up for it with terrain magic, probably." She noted again. "And the twins power are equal in every way! Amazing! And they can use Gemini Magic! Both of their power levels are Seven million point fifty five percent. Gemini Magic is really rare, so this is a great discovery!"

"What is Gemini Magic, exactly?" Asked Don Thousand, who was sitting cross-legged. "I never bothered to read about those things."

"Gemini Magic is magic that can be performed by two individuals who have the same magical levels. Take those two for example. They're twins, plus their magic levels are equal. Despite different weapons, they're bound to know at least three kinds of spells that will match the requirements of using Gemini Magic." Aristtea explained. "But the blue-haired boy is forbidden from entering the battle field. It seems the girl won't allow him. His magical levels are high, so why don't they let him in the field? He's quite useful, in terms of defense and support."

"Hm.. maybe he's the last resort?" Asked Mizael. "Makes sense. If you look closely, he looks pretty weak and girly to me. And that devil ain't letting him an inch near the battle field." He pointed out, sitting on his desk. "Clearly, White Moon has something hidden, such as a very powerful magic user. That boy seems awfully familiar too.."

"Hey blondie. Didn't it strike you that he looked like that thrashing black-haired kid from earlier? C'mon, he's one of our soldiers, and he's always making a scene." Don said with a bored face. He smirked once the realization hit Mizael. "Heh, we should get you some glasses you know? You don't notice things 'til I don't point them out, _Miza-chan_.~"

Mizael's face turned red. "Shut up!"

* * *

**-Terrain Magic: Chaos Zone-**

"That was your little gray dragon? Well, that certainly was a loud, ear-piercing shriek. I would have gone deaf, but lucky me, I wasn't." Ethan commented, preparing his bow. "No matter girly, I have to fight you. I'm on a mission, and we can't afford to lose numbers to White Moon soldiers. Sorry, but this is how it works; we fight, some die. Sacrifices should be made."

"Rinko-san!" Astral yelled, adjusting his arm canon and floating in front of her with the aid of his mechanical angel wings. "I'll handle this for you! His magic is long-ranged attacks, so you can't get anywhere near him and strike! Plus, your Hinotama requires too much speed to power up. We have the same type of fighting style, so I think I have the chance to beat him!"

"What the?! And leave you alone?! Taimi and Haruki would murder me! Not like they can, but I'm not leaving this to you! Stay still!" She scolded. However, another scream echoed, making her worried. "Damn.. Horus is in trouble!"

"Then go! I'll handle this!" Astral countered. "Horus is your spirit partner. He's important to you. Please, just.. help him. Everyone is so protective of me, but.. I got into the main team for a reason I still don't know.. T-This means.. they want me to be capable enough to protect others, and myself.. Please, just.. let me handle this for once." Astral added.

As another shriek was heard, Rinko eventually gave up. "F-Fine. But. Once I get back here, and you have been seriously injured by this grape-headed nerd, I'll tear him to pieces, and prevent you from going on another mission by locking you into your room with Haruki! And if you _die _from this, I'll murder every single member of the Black Star team, and their leader!" She threatened, as she floated away to where Horus was.

Ethan shivered. "She's pretty frightening.. reminds me of my mother, whenever she fought with my father. Quite a demon, she was. Her hair was like mine, and so was her eyes, but she had a demon's spirit." He sighed. "Well, I've been pretty interested in dueling her, but since you took her place, I am eager to see how great of a fighter you are! You don't look much, sorry.."

Astral made a pout. "I'm stronger than I look, Megane-niichan." He said.

Ethan chuckled. "Wow, that's what you're calling me? Way better than 'nerd', that's for sure. Now.." He prepared his bow and arrow, making sure they were aiming right at Astral. "**Allure of Darkness**! Send him back to his realm of nightmares!"

"**Spirit Barrier**!" Astral yelled as a yellow barrier formed in front of him. "Ruthless attacks that shall light up the darkness, **Sparks**!" Small yellow lights appeared next to Astral, as they formed into balls. "I cannot let you do as you wish, sorry.." He said, as the spark balls formed bigger. "Really sorry, Megane-niichan.. it's not like I have a choice at all. I'm doing this for my friends.."

* * *

**-White Moon, ****Floor 99: The Leader's Office-**

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Why's he fighting?! Where the hell did Yutora-kun float off to?!" Miharu yelled. "His magic levels are increasing rapidly! It's trillions, that's for sure! This is beyond dangerous, with human life force like his, he's bound to be weakened after this one attack! He could possibly die!"

Ena spat her tea at Eliphas, who growled in frustration. "Ena, you little..!"

"Astral's gonna die?! Stop the team! Call for a retreat! Message the Arclights, they're together! Argh, but they're fighting too.." Ena turned to Miharu. "Miharu! Call Tsukumo, Tenshi, Shikuro, and Hughes! Send them off to the chaos zone, and tell them to bring back the main team alive! His power levels won't just kill him, but everyone else in the city as well! This is utter chaos, literally!"

"Right!" Miharu said, turning on the company's speaker. "Emergency! Yuma Tsukumo, Taimi Shikuro, Haruki Tenshi, and Christopher Hughes! Head to the site where the main team is, immediately, it's a life and death situation! Leave your spirit partners and decks behind, but bring your weapons! Lives are at stake once again! Hurry off to Heartland Park _right now! _There's terrain magic activated in there, so be cautious of possible obstacles!"

As Miharu made the announcement, Eika rested her chin on her hand. "Hm.. Risky indeed. Maybe we should change the main team, to avoid anything hazardous. Rinko's too reckless, the Arclights can barely do anything without each other, and Astral's way too dangerous."

Ena made a look. "We can't just change it like that! And even though they have their flaws, they're still worthy enough to become the main team!" She scolded. As the two started bickering, Miharu noticed that certain figures were exiting from the building. Looking a bit closer, he realized it was the soldiers he had sent to save the main team. Yuma had a frantic look, Taimi was beyond panicking while fumbling around with Ragnarok, Chris was trying to calm her down, and Haruki had his spear ready and was running faster than any of them. "We need to put our faith in them!"

* * *

**-Terrain Magic: Chaos Zone-**

"Damn it!" Rinko cursed, dodging a few floating remains of what used to be a stone floor. The wings were handy for getting around the place too. Using her sword, she slashed a couple stone blocks, since her fire magic wouldn't affect it anyway. Plus, if any of her magic got into the portals, there could be issues. "Horus! Krebons! Where are you guys?! I didn't leave Astral for this!"

"Rinko?! Hey, hey, heeeeeey!" Krebons yelled, waving his little arms together. "Look what happened to poor ol' Horus!"

Rinko landed on the remaining stone floor, and instead of seeing a little gray dragon, what she was looking at was a boy who was unconscious. He had gray hair with a few streaks of white, and was wearing a white shirt, covered by a black hoodie jacket. He was wearing gray pants with white markings, and black sneakers. Beside him was a pair of black framed glasses, one of the lenses having a small crack. On the back of his jacket was the same character for the fire attribute that Rinko had on her fire-type monster cards. "..Krebons, cut the crap. Who is this kid?! How'd he get here?!"

Krebons made a look. The little android started flailing his arms. "That 'kid' is your spirit partner! A light emitted from the little guy, and all of a sudden, he turned to a fleshy thing like you, but passed out like a lightbulb! I checked, he's breathing, but that guy's Horus! No denying it!" He said confidently. "Look, he's waking up!"

As Krebons said, Horus made a sitting position and rubbed his aching forehead. He picked up the glasses beside him, and opened his eyes as he wore them. As Krebons expected, the boy's eyes were purple. Horus looked at the shocked Rinko, and his eyes widened. "M-Mistress! Are you hurt?!" He asked frantically, grabbing Rinko's arm and inspectine it. "A bruise? Mistress, we don't have any bandages with us, but I suggest we treat this later once we accomplish the mission!"

Instead of replying, Rinko pulled her arm away from him pointed at him. "H-Horus?! What the hell happened to you?! Y-You're human!" She shrieked. "And why are you calling me that?!"

Horus looked at his hands confusingly, and then looked at Rinko. "Well, you are a lady, and you are my master. As for the human transformation, I have no idea. When Miharu-dono excused me for something and you put me out, I started wandering around the hall, and suddenly, I felt different. When I was about to go back, I suddenly got my scales back and turned into my original form. However, I felt a wave of magic and suddenly.." He looked at his hands again. "Before I knew it, I'm back to being a human."

Krebons turned to Rinko. "Maybe Miharu-kid felt the magical energy he was emitting. It may have something to do with the duel with Master Astral!" He realized. "Master Astral's magic must'a affected Horus!"

Horus nodded. "That could be the solution, Krebons-dono. But how? Astral-dono cannot do those sort of things out of nowhere, correct?"

"Unless.." Both spirit partners turned to Rinko. Suddenly, her mechanical wings got ready, and she was floating again. "You two! We need to get back to Astral! He could be in danger!"

"Why?!" Horus asked. "Is Astral-dono in danger, Mistress?!"

Rinko gritted her teeth. "Astral releasing a magical wave that's able to turn spirit partners into human forms.. Astral glowing and having a high amount of energy must mean.. it's possible. Astral may be the key to the problem."

* * *

**Me: It's been ages since I last updated, huh? Don't worry, I'll make the next one immediately, I PROMISE.**

**Rinko: Why am I suffering in this story?! Can't you torture someone else?!**

**Review if ya like!**


	8. Chapter 8: Escape the Battlefield

**-Terrain Magic: Chaos Zone-**

"Sei-neechan!" Selena screamed, as Siri's attack nearly got her. Selena had been blocking the older girl's attacks, and it was seriously wearing her out. On the other hand, Sei needed too much space to be able to prepare her own magic, and her enemy, which was Lunar, wasn't giving her any due to her weapon being a scythe. Selena dodged another attack from Siri, panting. "This is not looking good.."

"Siri! Lunar!" A voice yelled. Suddenly, Sei saw a look-alike of Astral, except this one was tall and had black hair, along with one of his eyes being black instead of clear white. The older-looking Astral was carrying an Axe, and he had a few scratches on his face. "I can't find the other two members anywhere, instead, I encountered a dragon and an android. They're probably duel spirits, but they practically dug their own graves. Where's the number?"

Sei gritted her teeth, her hands clasping together to keep the card in her hands. "Right here, you Black Star scum! You want it?! Fight me!"

He looked at her with a scowl, and readied his axe. Selena yelped, and floated close to Sei, her sword pointing at him. "Stay away from my big sister!" She yelled, as her sword started glowing. However, the sword lost it's glow as Selena started panting, causing Sei to get worried. Without any effort, Dark went near Sei and grabbed her arm, causing her to let of the number card. "Nee-chan!"

"Weak bastards." Dark commented, flinching as he felt the number's power emitting. It was painful, yes, but Dark could handle it with a little more time. "We'll spare you. I won't waste my time and power on such pathetic weaklings from White Moon. Siri, Lunar. Open the warp hole. We should get outta here, this card's stinging me, like a salt and a wound." Dark ordered. Siri made a huff while Lunar nodded frantically.

Siri took a device out of her pocket, and started pressing the button. "Stupid.. Mizael probably let Vector play around with this thing, it's practically broken.. Just.. aw, come on.." She muttered, pressing the button harder.

"Daruku! Did you guys get the number? I had to handle a bratty girl, but she's gone somewhere, so this kid took her place instead."

The three Black Star members turned around and found Ethan carrying what seemed to be another White Moon soldier on his one arm. Dark's eyes widened as he saw Ethan carrying an obviously injured Astral, whose eyes were half-lidded. Daruku's mouth dropped open, as Sei widened her eyes and gritted her teeth. "You freaking bastard! You hurt Asu-kun! Dammit, Selena! Contact Rinko, stat! We need to retreat for now! Our first mission, and we failed, and I could care less! No one else should die today!"

None of them expected Dark to let go of the number card and literally grab Ethan by his neck collar, forcing him to drop Astral. Siri and Lunar rushed to their side, trying to stop the enraged Dark from murdering Ethan, who had no idea why Dark was acting this way. "How..?! Why?! Where the hell did you find him?! Why did you hurt him?!" He asked angrily.

Before Astral could fall into any of the portals, Selena spread out her arms and caught him the same way Rinko did earlier. Sei forced herself up, and whispered to her sister's ear. "What the heck is going on? Aren't they comrades? This is odd, we should get going. Rinko can handle herself just fine, we'll contact her once we're out of the battlefield." She planned. "Wings, activate. Shit, we need to repair these too."

Selena obeyed her older sister, immediately grabbing the number card. They realized the soldiers from the other team were too busy arguing to notice they activated their mechanical wings and were starting to fly away in another direction. Lunar, hearing the noise from the broken wings, yelled loudly at her teammates. "C-Can we not fight later?! T-They're getting away!"

Daruku let go of Ethan, who was coughing loudly. Siri then tapped Lunar on the soldier. "Go with Daruku, Lunar. I'm gonna have to make sure Ethan can still breathe and all."

Lunar nodded and flew after Dark, who had an angry look on his face. Daruku seemed calmed when they were hunting numbers earlier, and made no effort to hunt them down.. was he even interested in grabbing the number? No.. his eyes were focused on something else. They weren't focused on the glowing card that the taller twin had. He was focused on catching the younger twin (Lunar assumed, considering she was calling the other her "nee-chan".), who still had an unconscious boy in her arms. Wait.. the boy.. was it just her or did that kid slightly resemble Dark?

**"YOU BASTARDS! GIVE ME BACK MY LITTLE BROTHER!"**

..Oh. That solved everything.

Selena looked at her sister with a confused look. "Brother?! What?! That guy's related to Astral?!"

Sei nodded, gripping the number tightly. "Seems so. We don't know for sure, I mean, we just met today, but that might explain the guy's behavior towards his comrade. Still.. we need to find Rinko and leave, that guy's dangerous.." She said, rubbing her arm. It still hurt. She turned her head and saw the guy was starting to charge up his axe. "Give me a break! He knows magic too?! That guy's insane!"

"Sei-neechan.. Maybe we should just use.."

"No way! Last time we did, we were in the medical ward for weeks.."

"But Sei-neechan! If we don't do it.." She looked at Astral. "We can't risk losing another comrade.. another friend, right?"

"..Friend? Selena, we just met him today, maybe we should just surrender him.. That's what he's after, right? The kid. Rules of the company are collect numbers, no matter what the cost might be."

"Surrender him?! No! You saw how much Haruki-san cares for him! Think about Rinko-chan too!"

"Selena-neechan..?" A voice uttered.

Selena and Sei looked at Astral, who had just woken up. He eyed at them confusingly, but then realized his mechanical wings had been torn off. Looking at his right arm, he also realized that Wave-Motion was damaged. "Did Rinko-san come back yet..? She said she was gonna fetch Horus and Krebons.." He groaned. "Are we heading home now..? I'm tired, Megane-niichan is really strong.. Why are we flying away..? Are those Black Star soldiers, too..?"

"YOU BASTARDS! **Brain Control**! Destroy their state of mind!"

Sei suddenly crashed, her head aching horribly. Selena stopped to get near her, only to end up crashing due to headaches as well. Both twins screamed in pain, as Dark landed along with Lunar. Astral, who was beneath Selena, crawled out slowly. "Selena-neechan? Sei-neechan..? Get up..! Please..!"

Sei extended her hand towards Astral. "T-This.. is the number card. Take it, and run away.."

Astral shook his head. "I can't..! How about you and Selena-neechan?!"

"We'll be fine.."

"No you won't..! Your headaches might be too much..!" He cried as the twins passed out.

Lunar approached the twins carefully, staring at Astral. His eyes were like Dark's, one of them being gold. His hair was also curled upwards, but he had some of his hair downwards, giving him a slightly feminine look. His uniform was like the twins', except he wore pants and not a skirt. On his right arm was a golden watch, but it looked slightly scratched. "The card. Hand it over."

Astral shook his head stubbornly. "N-No. Sei-neechan and Selena-neechan are still in pain. I'm not gonna give up.."

Lunar frowned. "You can't fight. Your weapon's damaged. Your state is horrible. You won't survive if you try to fight."

Dark stepped between them, giving her a look as if he was telling her to stay away from him. "Astral.." He muttered softly, before running to him and hugging him. Lunar raised an eyebrow, but decided not to interfere, unless she wanted to end up like Ethan. "You're alive.. you're safe.. dammit, why'd you have to be in White Moon?! In the main team too.. I'd rather have you in Black Star, to be honest." He looked at Astral. For some reason, he looked different. He was already thin, but it seemed like he got thinner. There were a few bruises on his arms, which used to be so clean, due to Astral's fear of getting hurt. But there was something about him that made him look a bit different. "Astral.. what's wrong?" He asked. He was overjoyed that he got to see his beloved little brother again, but he was worried about his condition.

Astral pulled himself away from Dark, his face full of confusion and fear. "I.. who are you..? How do you know my name..?" He stuttered.

Dark felt something heavy in his chest, as he realized that Astral wasn't seeking him for help. Unlike before, the Astral who loved to play with him was gone.. this Astral..this _soldier_.. he had no recollection of him. He was scared of him. "W-What..? Astral, it's me! I'm your older brother, Daruku!"

He suddenly heard a yelp from Lunar. He turned around and saw another face he never thought to see again. It was Rinko, her mechanical wings flapping, and floating beside her seemed to be a duel spirit and a gray-haired kid he didn't know. Rinko looked at Lunar, then at Dark. Like Sei's reaction, she widened her eyes and opened her mouth to speak. "..Daruku? You're _alive_?!" She stared at the unconscious twins. "You attacked them?! Damn, are they even breathing.. ah, good, they are." Then she stared at the card in Astral's hands. "Oh.. Y-You're able to hold it without g-getting in pain..?"

"Rinko-san..?"

"I.. got a call. Back-up's comin'. Haruki and Chris'll lift those two, I can't carry them. Unlike you though, you're just.. very light.." She said. "Are you hurt? The emerald-eyed nerd didn't do too much damage, did he? He was a bit swift for me."

Astral shook his head. "I kind of.. passed out.. Wave-Motion is in a bad shape too, Rinko-san. Look." He showed her his damaged watch. "I'm fine. My legs do hurt a bit, but Selena-neechan carried me before she, um.. passed out, along with Sei-neechan.."

"Why did they pass out?" Horus asked curiously.

He pointed to Dark. "That Black Star soldier used a spell. It seems to be a mind-related spell, so I think it'll wear off. They got a headache, so they crashed.. speaking of which, our wings are a bit.. tattered."

Rinko scooped Astral with her arms. "Yeah, I know. Listen, we gotta go. Yuma and the rest are outside, and that guy is gonna get a hell of a heart attack if he keeps worrying." She turned to Dark, and gave him a look. "..You. Don't die until everything's over."

Dark gritted his teeth. "What happened to my Astral?! My brother.. What did they do to him?!"

Horus and Krebons floated, ready to lead Rinko and the others to the exit for later. "..Fear. That's all you need to know. He had been scared before I found him. It happened to Haruki and a few others, but he remembered his closest friends, like Me, Yuma, Kotori, or Alit. You, however.. I don't know. It must affect his mind somehow, but I don't know. He doesn't know you, I think." She said. "Oh, and you better leave with that girl. Your nerd friend and the older woman retreated earlier. Astral already saw you, I doubt Haruki or Taimi are gonna like it, and you know how scary Haruki can be."

Nodding, he slung Lunar over his shoulder. "Rinko.. t-take care of my brother until everything's settled, alright? I don't want anyone to hurt him.."

Rinko nodded. "That's my job. See ya around, Dark. The next time we meet, we have no choice but to fight."

He chuckled bitterly. "Hah. Those stupid companies. Whichever team gets the numbers first, I better return and see Astral breathing. I'm gonna murder you if he doesn't make it."

Rinko made a frown. "As if I'm gonna let him die. Do you want anything else? Besides the number, it's ours. Information, I can give away as much as I want, I don't care anymore."

Dark approached the fire-headed girl. "Nothing more. Keep my little Astral safe, that's all I want."

"I will."

As Dark flew away with Lunar in tow, Astral gave a confused look to Rinko. "Do we know him..? He calls me his little brother.. is it part of my lost memories, Rinko-san? Do I have an older brother?"

Rinko nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry, he's a pretty nice guy, and he loves you a lot. We'll just have to wait until these two get up, or Yuma and the others arrive. You can't walk, I'll carry you until you feel better."

"Um.. Rinko-san.. another question."

"Yeah?"

"Who is the gray-haired gentleman?" He asked, pointing to Horus.

* * *

**_"Sei, Selena! Come here." A woman said softly. Her hands were behind her back, obviously hiding something. Beside her was Layla, chuckling. "Layla, do you think they'll like it?"_**

**_"Of course. Your daughters are such precious jewels, y'know. Ahhh, but they know your weaknesses! By crying, naturally." Layla teased. The mother made a playful pout, before bursting into giggles. On Layla's arm was the younger brother of the twins, Altair. But because of their mom having her hands occupied, she held him for awhile._**

**_"You're right. He told me not to spoil them too much, but I cannot resist! Besides, since he's at the lab, and not here to preach or anything, I can give the kids a little freedom." She giggled, before looking at her third child. He was a young boy who looked a lot like his father, so she was sure he'd act like him too when he gets older._**

**_"Mooooom?" Sei's voice echoed. "You called?"_**

**_Their mother giggled. "Yes, Sei. I have something to give to you and Selena."_**

**_Selena peeked. "What is it?"_**

**_She smiled. "A deck!"_**

* * *

**-White Moon, Clinic, Room 1A-**

Selena sat up, breathing heavily. Beside her was Sei, a look of doubt on her face. "Sei-neechan.. I d-dreamt of.. Mama and Altair.. again.."

Sei nodded, hugging her sister. "Me too, Selena. In a way.. we're connected, so we know each other's dreams, remember? We share the same abilities and dreams, the same weaknesses and fears.." She said softly. "I hope.. Mama is safe and our little brother is okay.. w-we should go to Aunt Layla and Uncle Michael and ask them for comfort later.. the little nurse told us to stay in bed for awhile. She said we needed to rest. Apparently, Haruki-kun and a few others bought us back here."

Selena nodded. "And Asu-kun?"

"He's.. in the office, with Rinko. We got the number, but.. they have suspicions on the kid. Astral was able to hold the number without any difficulty, the gray-haired kid with Rinko, and Rinko's dislike of being bribed to speak up. Before we blacked out, she had an interaction with Astral's brother. Unfortunately.. she wouldn't tell a soul about it. Astral barely had any idea what was going on, so he didn't know what to say as well."

Selena frowned. "Rinko's brave and all.. but she oughta trust people more. I don't get her dislike of most people."

Sei nodded. "It's just how she is. Rude and bratty, but at least she's got a few good things about her. Despite not telling anyone.. she's not making things up either. She's honest. I can sense it. Although.. she needs to work on social skills."

"Agreed."

"Hello?" The door opened, revealing an older male and Haruki. "Um, hey, I'm Christopher Hughes, call me Chris. You know Haruki already. T-Taimi-chan was supposed to come with us, but she's waiting outside the office for.. Rinko and Astral, and that other weird kid to come out. Haruki said it'd be a good idea to introduce myself to you or something."

Haruki nodded happily. "Of course. After all, you did help carry them."

Sei muttered a "thank you", in which Selena beamed and thanked Chris.

* * *

**-White Moon, Floor 99: The Leader's Office-**

"So it's personal?" Ena asked again, trying to calm down both Hokai and Eliphas, who were on the verge of destroying the little fiery fiend, who was casually sitting on the sofa, legs and arms crossed, a red lollipop on her mouth.

Rinko's injuries were tended to, by Horus, who was insisting on calling her his mistress. The girl's ripped and bloody jacket was removed, exposing her bruises and scratches, but she still wore her black gloves for reasons she wouldn't spill out. Astral was beside Rinko, eyes feigning worry, and his hands on his lap, tapping patiently. "Yeah. The black-haired kid was the one who killed the old team. As for our conversation, it's a secret. I'm not lying. I know him and all."

"Well then." Eika turned to Astral, smiling sweetly. "Asu-chan! Would you mind telling us of their conversation?~"

Astral looked at Rinko, who was giving him a look. Never once did she threaten to destroy him, but he felt like a traitor if he were to tell on her. "Um.. he's my brother, that's for sure.." Astral muttered. "T-That's the closest info we can give you, sorry. As Rinko-san, said, it's classified."

Rinko let out a sigh of relief. Astral managed to satisfy their curiosity, without spilling too much of their conversation. "There. Happy? Can we go now?"

Ena nodded. "Go ahead, you three. As for Horus-kun, we're gonna look into some of the records earlier, and maybe we can find the reason of his transformation. Astral, dear, for the meantime, you can take it easy. Rinko. You, Horus, and the Arclight Twins will be on a practice session this afternoon. We need to experiment your magic levels, whereas Astral doesn't need to release too much magical energy, thus, he needs to rest. Eika and Miharu will guide you later, Astral. You have the highest possibility of being the wielder of Numeron."

Astral stiffened. _"I don't want to be the wielder of a power that can create and destroy, it's too much.."_

Rinko stood up, wearing her jacket. Horus followed, aiding the two teenagers as they exited the office. Outside was Taimi, Yuma, Haruki, Chris, Sei, and Selena, all looking at the trio worriedly. "Are you guys alright?" Selena asked. "The mission was a success.. right?"

Astral nodded. "Yes.. despite the plan being ruined and all, we did put up quite a fight, so it's fine."

As Rinko was about to approach Sei to ask how the older Arclight was doing, she passed by Chris. The two then stopped by their tracks, heads clashing onto each other. With a chuckle, Taimi and Haruki covered their mouths, attempting to stop their laughter from the rivalry of their two friends. Astral made a worried look, while Yuma and the twins looked at them with raised eyebrows. Horus attempted to stop their clashing, though.

"Hey there, Hughes. Although you saved our butts at the last minute, don't think I'm backing down on our bet just because you carried one of the twins for me. I could have probably carried them myself if I wasn't so worn out." She said with a smirk, her aura glowing brighter, as her fists clenched.

"As if I'm assuming such a thing, you little satanic brat. I was on the edge of my seat, waiting for you to actually lose to someone other than me. I was a bit surprised to learn that you got yourself in trouble. Wait.. I shouldn't have been surprised at all. After all, Rinko Yutora is a troublemaker." Chris attempted to say with a straight face, but ended up with an evil smirk like Rinko's.

"Oh, that'd be downright embarrassing, to lose to someone other than Christopher Hughes, whose already inferior to me. That would just be plain pathetic." She said with a confident tone, gloved hands on her hips.

Chris snorted, arms crossing. "Says the kid who falls for any tricks regarding candy."

"You can't even talk to girls your age with a straight face. Stuttering idiot."

"At least I attempt to socialize. You practically talk to your stash of candy, as far as I'm concerned."

"At least I don't stutter when talking to them. And candy doesn't giggle at me for being such a blushing mess, 'cuz I barely blush at all."

"As if I'm supposed to believe that. Alan is practically head over heels for ya, don't think I didn't saw his so-called romantic-stunt last Valentines Day."

As the two kept bickering, the twins turned to Taimi. "Uh.. is it fine to leave them be?"

Taimi waved her hands dismissively. "Of course. Chris-kun and Rinko-chan made a bet to never lose to anyone, besides the other. They're rivals, basically."

* * *

**Well, that concludes this chapter! Sonofthetrigod suggested Rinko to be Chris' rival, so I hope I got his character correctly. I'm practically in love with their childish bickering.**

**I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting anyone to like Rinko. Because she's the first OC I've made to actually act like a jerk. My old version of Rinko was actually shy, and unwilling to do anything dangerous. But I like this version of Rinko better; a confident little brat who has a weird obsession with candy and is extremely reckless. I'm surprised that people actually like her, 'cuz I thought they'd hate her for being a little devil.**

**Review if ya like!**


	9. Chapter 9: Tiny Bell

**Me: Heeey! We have Darksigneryusei's (from Deviantart) OC, Azulon, joining us! Guess who else has made their appearance?**

**Mike: Long time no see!~**

**Azulon: Awesome! This'll be great!**

**Rinko: Murder is not fun, you two idiots!**

* * *

**-Heartland Warehouse-**

"Azulon!"

Said boy looked up. He had emerald hair curled upwards, two golden eyes, and wore a black suit, covered by a dark-green trenchcoat. He also wore black boots and gloves to fit his attire and black-shades to cover his bright eyes. Making a little yawn, he sat up, and grinned childishly. "I was having such a nice dream about the upcoming world, Mike-kun. It had the Zexals and the current wielder of Numeron, his friends dead at his feet. How charming."

Mike made a look. Compared to Azulon, his hair was normal, black, and some of the strands tainted with blue covering his right eye. His eyes were emerald, and he was wearing black-framed glasses. Like Azulon, he was wearing an all-black attire, minus the trenchcoat and shades. He already had enough things covering his eyes anyway. "A vision again? We need to fulfill our mission before the end is near, Azulon. Our targets were close earlier, but the Original had been attacked badly. We need to make the first move, Azulon."

Azulon frowned. "Fine. We're both heading for the Black Star company, right? First things first, we need to ask the Zexals to let Chaos escape. Next, we need to convince Chaos to take in a physical form, one that can control the Original's power just by being there.. Let's tell him to take the form of that scary black-haired kid. Ya know.. the guy whose form I stole!"

"Don't say that so casually, geez. We're both failures when it comes to taking the form of an existing organism. Look at me. I was supposed to look like that spiky-purple-haired kid, and ended up with a different hairstyle, black and blue, straight and not spiky. But. The eyes are a success. Emerald ones. Plus, the glasses. Close enough."

"Yeah, yeah." Azulon waved his hands dismissively. "I'll go and ask Izeru and Yazeru to let the little demon go. You, on the other hand.. go to White Moon. Pyra's host has a lot of power. If we're lucky, maybe we can get something out of her. She can't remember a thing about Ceres' host, so it's our job to remind her, and make them surrender the Original."

"Of course." Mike nodded. "This was the only reason we were created. Now stop procrastinating, we need to finish the job before this world blows up."

* * *

**-Black Star, Floor 14: Dormitory Section F-**

"I'm really sorry, Daruku." Ethan said, hands on his pockets, head down. Beside him was Siri, arms crossed, and had a scowl on her face. Lunar was beside Siri, twiddling her fingers while muttering something quietly. The emerald-eyed boy looked at Daruku. "I didn't know how much he meant to you. I was asking myself why he looked like someone I knew.. I'm so stupid, sorry.."

Dark shook his head. "N-No.. it's my fault.. I should have expected you to not know he was my little brother.. I just.. missed him so bad, I wasn't even paying attention to the fact that I gave up the number for him.. I'm not saying I think that the number is more important than my only family, though, what I'm saying is.. I might be a traitor to you guys, now that I know where my brother is. Unfortunately, he can't remember me, but his friends do." Dark muttered. "I need some time alone, please. Let me bed for awhile, and feel free to hate me."

Dark rushed to his room, locking it tightly. As he plopped down on his bed, he started thinking about the failed mission. _"My Astral.. what happened to him? According to Rinko, he was scared senseless, to the point he forgot who I am. Strange.. he remembers her and Yuma, but me, Haruki, and Taimi.. I wonder how that happened. No matter, Rinko promised to protect him. She never lies.. Wait a minute." _He sat up. _"Ethan's name.. Ceres.. and two last names.. like Rinko. Hmm.. there might be a chance they're related in a way.. they're both orphans, and Mishka did say Ethan used to have a sister.. they might be related."_

"That could make sense.." He muttered to himself. "Rinko did hear her family talking about her supposedly dead sibling who was lost in the boating accident.. Ethan may be that sibling.."

* * *

**-White Moon, Floor 12: Dormitory Section D-**

Rinko watched as Horus prepare a cup of tea and some cake, his glasses on her dresser. Ena was going to give Horus another pair, and maybe a uniform for White Moon. Right now, the human dragon was wearing one of Alan's clothes, who was more than generous to let him borrow a few. Rinko didn't actually feel awkward being in the same room as Horus, considering he was a dragon, and not really a human. Besides, she got used to his presence already.

"My mistress." He handed her the tray of food. "Please replenish your energy. Afterwards, let me clean your injuries. You still have practice today. Or would you want me to excuse you from your practice session, because of today's mission?"

"No. It's fine. I can still take a few hits. My bruises are just good, thanks for the concern. You may accompany Astral for his magic exam later. He needs someone to calm him, and Yuma needs to have a dueling practice session later. Why don't you eat?" She handed him her plate of cake.

"No thank you, Mistress. Your concern is appreciated, but I am a spirit patner. I do not require food." He explained. "Your health is one of my concerns. I exist only to assist you until you think I am useless enough to be thrown away."

"What?"

"Do you not know? Most spirit partners get new human partners due to the fact the humans no longer want them. I have been thrown away many times, because I am just a little dragon. However, this is the first time I have been able to transform into human. Plus, you were able to make me realize my full potential. You were able to make me transform into greater forms." Horus said with a slight smile. "You are patient. My old.. partner was a bit scary. You are a far kinder mistress."

Rinko made a frown. "What.. was your old mistress like?"

Horus thought for awhile. "She looked a bit like the purple-haired man earlier. She also had emerald eyes. She wielded me when she was a teenager. I am pretty sure she's an adult now. I wasn't a spirit when she was in possession of my card. I was one of the cards in her deck. She deemed me weak, so she dumped me. I had no idea what happened after that, but when I woke up, I found my three cards in your possession. You were a bit shorter back then, but you were so responsible and caring for me. Even though you were younger than my previous mistress, you're much better." He smiled.

Rinko felt confident hearing that. "Thanks.. I'm gonna head to the training room now, alright? I'll bring you to Astral's room first. I want you to watch over him, alright? In case something bad happens, you can call me, like always. It's been awhile since I last saw Alan. I kinda miss him already. Too bad he's always busy." She then reached out to her own neck. Looking closely, Horus saw there was a string of some sort around her neck. Rinko pulled it a little bit, revealing itself to be some sort of necklace. It seemed to be a red string, clicked to a tiny yellow bell.

Horus eyed it with amazement. "I know you collect tiny bells, Mistress, but I did not give thought to the fact you have a necklace of one." He commented. "It looks shinier compare to the ones you currently have. If I recall, your collection is under your bed?"

Rinko smirked. "Hell yeah it is. This was a gift from Alan, actually. I accidentally saved him when we were younger, and he gave me this bell as a present. That was basically how we met. I found the sounds of bells soothing, so I decided to collect them, and shake the box they're in whenever I'm feeling stressed. It works. This bell is a good-luck charm to me."

Horus made an amaze look. "Oh I see. It looks as if it was made out of real gold."

* * *

**-Later, White Moon: Floor 56: Physical Training-**

"Rin-Rin!" An overly-cheerful Alan greeted Rinko, who had just entered his training chamber. Most of his clients stared at him with questionable looks, but he payed it no mind. Alan was a teenage boy, the same height as Rinko. He had gray hair, and darker gray hair formed on the back of his head as fluffy-looking spikes. His eyes were dark green in color, and his normal attire consisted of a white shirt with black stripes, a gray jacket, white pants with black stripes, and black boots. On his head were two purple feathers. "It's been months, Rin-Rin! I'm always at other floors training other soldiers, so it's good to see you again!"

It wasn't an overstatement to say that Alan literally liked Rinko and thought of her as more than a friend. His way of giving her a nickname and change of attitude were enough hints. The training instructor ran to his friend with his usual cheerful grin, waving his arms. To Rinko, Alan seemed to have grown quite a bit. It _had_ been months since they last saw each other, so it was quite natural. "You're still wearing the bell I gave you right? Told ya it'd give you good luck! Mission success, thanks to you and the other members of the main team!" He told her, gleefully shaking her hand.

"Nice to see you too, Alan. How's the training sessions with other soldiers? They are notably more tolerable than me, that's for sure. I pretty much tired out Alit." She grinned. "And I'm wearing the bell, it's just beneath my attire. Don't wanna break or lose the first bell of my collection." She said jokingly. "Anyways, I'm here on special training, along with the two new recruits, Sei and Selena Arclight. Astral's in another floor, testing his magical levels. Have the twins arrived?"

Alan nodded. "Yep. Alit! I'm gonna train the main team right now, alright? Handle the other soldiers for me, will ya?" The gray-haired dragged Rinko to the other part of the room, where Sei and Selena were. Their weapons were already readied. "Rin-Rin, summon your weapon now. Training will begin shortly." He grabbed the purple feathers on his head, as the feathers transformed into purple blades. Dual blade, as Haruki would call his skill. "Okay! Rinko might know, but since you two are new to me, I'll introduce myself! My name is Alexander Mako, call me Alan! Don't call me Alex, though. That name's boring. My weapons, as you can see, are two blades. They share a name, though. Their name is Shinato."

Sei nodded. "Uh, sure. My name is Sei Arclight. This is my younger twin, Selena. My weapon is a gun, Morphtronic. And Selena's is a sword, Lexida. Um.. nice to meet you, I guess."

Alan smile grew wider. "Okie-dokie. To start, I need to learn of the kinds of magic you are good at. Rin-Rin. It's been awhile since we actually practiced. So, care to remind me of your magic skill? While you're at it, tell me what's the flaw in your fighting style, will you?"

"Fire magic. Most are offensive magic. I pretty much lack in defense, but my support magic and terrain magic are decent enough. Speed and offense are not bad, but my defense is pretty low." She said. "Fire magic mostly focuses on destroying, not defending. That's pretty much the biggest flaw I could ever think of. My fighting style and deck strategy are the same."

"Indeed. We're gonna have to work on that. Sei and Selena. Since you're twins, is it correct for me to assume you both know Gemini Magic?" He asked, pointing one blade at Sei, who nodded. "Well, you two need to cooperate and agree on decisions whenever it comes to magic that requires two people. I need a demonstration on how you two team up on fights. Rin-Rin, you'll be my partner."

Rinko flipped her bracelet, as it transformed into Salamandra. "Alrighty."

* * *

**-Black Star, Floor 14: Dormitory Section F-**

"Daruku-san?" Lunar peeked inside the black-haired's room, Siri and Ethan behind her. "There seems to be something going on at the Heartland Warehouse. We are tasked to investigate the cause of the problem. If there is a number, we should grab it. Are you finished healing your injuries?"

Dark stood up, grabbing his coat. "Yeah. Just give me a few more minutes to get ready. I need to see if my weapon's in good shape."

While the two girls left Dark's room, Ethan stayed behind. "How is Malicevrous? Did you use too much magic when you have chase to those twins?" He asked, fixing his glasses. "The girl I fought was a bit hard to beat. Me and Siri were already out of the zone when you and Lunar chased the other soldiers. Did you encounter a girl with brown eyes?" He asked. "She packs a punch. Literally. When she got near me, besides hitting me with fireballs and attempting to stab me, she literally punched me in the gut.. It still hurts."

"Ah, you mean Rinko. Yes I saw her." He replied. "She's another friend of mine. A close friend of my little brother too. It's nice to hear she's still the same, despite the current situation. Her punching you is pretty natural." He dismissed. "Speaking of which, Mishka told you about your sister, correct? You got into an unknown accident, which pretty much separated you from your family, right?"

Etha nodded. "Uh-huh. Mishka says she can't remember my sister's name or looks. The only thing that she remembered about my sister was that she wore black gloves a lot. Other than that, we don't remember. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing. I was just a bit curious. Come on, Ethan."

* * *

**Me: HEEEEEEY I UPDATED TWICE IN ONE WEEK.**

**Rinko: Guess who cares? Definitely not me.**

**Me: I am starting to ship Rinko with Alan, lol. But I also ship Rinko with Vector. So, I have two ships with Rinny now! InsanityShipping and Bellshipping! :D**

**Review if ya like!**


	10. Chapter 10: I Am Chaos

**-White Moon, Floor 99: The Leader's Office-**

"Astral-dono, you need to breathe. Relax. Take a deep breath, now.. inhale, exhale.. good, good, like that." Horus instructed his mistress' friend, who was hyperventilating out of nervousness. His hands were on the shorter boy's shoulders, and he was carefully shaking him to calm him down. "Snap out of it, Astral-dono. It's time to demonstrate your magic power. If you want, I can ask the leaders to stay beside you during the procedure." He offered.

Astral shook his head, tears flowing from his eyes. "No! No.. I don't want to involved you in my abnormalities any longer, Horus-san. It's my fault you were turned into human in the first place.. as a human, you can get hurt more, and you can get sick. I don't want you to be a test subject, so.. p-please.. don't go near me anymore. I will be the death of you.." He covered his eyes, and sobbed quietly. The five leaders only looked at him with blank expressions.

Horus had learned of a gesture that Alan did with Rinko, and Yuma did with all of his friends. He carefully wrapped his arms around Astral, and hugged him. He heard from Miharu that this was supposed to comfort someone, and Yuma did hug Astral once. Maybe it would calm him down as well. "Ah, I have no idea how hugs are supposed to work. Sorry, but I seem to remember Alan-dono doing the same to my mistress long ago. Has this managed to calm your soul?"

Astral pulled away, his breathing becoming normal. "I guess.. t-thank you, Horus-san. E-Ena-san.. I'm ready for the process." He walked to Ena, who had dragged him to a metal table. Near the table was a bunch of machines, some of them having plugs. On the table was a white pillow, obviously flat. There was another table, filled with items such as knives and medicine.

Ena knelt down Astral's level. "Astral, dear, take off your shirt, alright?" She told the crying boy. "We need to put the plugs on your skin, see. It's the easiest way to detect the problem in your body. We'll try to get it over with, I promise."

Astral nodded, and carefully unbuttoned his shirt. Horus went near him to hold his clothes, while Hokai approached the younger boy to carry him up the table. Once Astral was on the table, he pushed him back, making him lie down. Eliphas then sat on his chair, as the other leaders do their job. Eika took a small knife from the table, and Miharu seemed to got a hold of a syringe of some sort. Seeing the needle scared Horus a bit, but Hokai was blocking Astral's view to prevent him from panicking.

Miharu stabbed Astral's arm with the needle. At first, Astral's eyes widened, and his mouth opened to let out a scream, but eventually, he passed out. Eika then approached Astral, and slowly inspected his arm.

Horus felt his non-existent dragon tail twitch a bit. "Excuse me, leader Eika.. what has a knife got to do with the procedure of testing magic levels?" He asked, his voice raising a bit. He felt a bit scared of Eika after she just poked him on the stomach a few hours ago, but approaching someone with a knife was a natural reason to be cautious.

"You don't get it yet, Horus. You may be a dragon, an old one, but you act like a naive human. What we're doing is testing him. We need to see if he's actually normal." Eika explained. An insane grin crept on her face, and her eyes darkened. "See, when you're different, everyone tends to act negative towards you. Astral is that little seed who was planted differently, and thus, sprouted differently. But we're seriously doing this for his own good." She said, as she made a rather large cut on Astral's arm.

The unconscious soldier made a loud cry, and attempted to pull his arm away from the red-headed woman. Miharu then took a little bottle, and let the bottle be filled with the blunette's blood. "Horus.. we really mean no harm. There isn't a way to test him without his emotions going berserk."

Horus' eyes widened. "What do you mean..?"

Ena made a sad smile. "Astral.. has demonstrated more than enough insane magic for today. He wasn't really normal to begin with, sad to say. I sensed his aura ever since he got in this company.. he was in too much pain. Too scared." She helped Hokai, by wrapping a bandage around his bleeding arm. "Despite the painful process he's going through, White Moon will find a way to get rid of Numeron inside him."

"WHAT?!"

Without even noticing, Hokai grabbed Horus by the neck from behind, choking the dragon-human with his arm. "Keep your voice down, you little dragon. We don't want any interruptions." Hokai covered Horus' mouth with his gloved hand, and pulled himself back as Miharu and Ena study Astral's blood. From his seat, Eliphas could see something wrong. It seemed that something was causing the room to glow..

Oh no.

"Astral-dono!"

Ena and Miharu were immediately blown away by some unknown force, while Eika was literally tossed around the room. Hokai lost his grip on Horus, who had also been lown away by the unknown power. Eliphas tried to stand up, only to end up being pushed back. Astral arched his back, and suddenly, some of the light materialized into a form of a human.

_**"Who dares to hurt the wielder of Numeron?!"**_

Horus' eyes widened. "That voice..! It can't be!"

The figure released another wave of energy, knocking Hokai back. The masked-man seemed to have passed out, because he didn't bother to stand up after being knocked down. Miharu tried to reach out for his own pocket to summon Aegis, only for him to get lifted above, and tossed right over Eika. Ena ran to Astral's body, only to have her neck grabbed by the figure.

_**"Stay away from him!"**_

He threw Ena to Eliphas, and both adults passed out. Horus tried to stay still, but with the sudden wind inside the large room wasn't helping. Astral's screams went louder, as the figure forced some furniture in the room to break or be tossed around the room. Horus felt dizzy, as his back suddenly felt sore. It felt as if something was piercing against his skin, and his vision was getting blurry. He knelt down, panting heavily. _"Oh no.. Astral-dono is in danger! What can I do in a situation like this?! I can't get near Astral-dono, unless.."_

Horus forced himself to stand up, screaming as loud as he could. **"MY MISTRESS!"**

* * *

**_"Here is your spirit partner, Rinko. He was summoned to this world by you, since he's your ace card and everything. He's a cute little dragon, isn't he?" Ena cooed at the gray dragon beside her._**

**_In front of the dragon was a young girl, by the age of ten. Her eyes were dark brown, and her hair was colored like fire, tied back into a ponytail. Beside the girl was a gray-haired boy with green eyes. The girl seemed to be holding a card.. his card, on one hand, and her other hand was clasped to the hand of the gray-haired boy, who grinned. "Told ya you could do it, Rin-Rin!" He chimed. "Say hello to your spirit partner!"_**

**_Their hands separated, and the fire-headed girl, or Rinko, knelt down in front of him. She looked at him for awhile, before showing her gloved hand to him. "Hey there. I'm your partner. You're my spirit partner, so I rely on you to help me with a few things, alright? My name is Rinko. Yutora Rinko. Nice to meet you, Horus."_**

**_Horus..? Was that his name?_**

**_"I'll be relying on you, so you can rely on me."_**

* * *

When Horus opened his eyes after what seemed to be his first nap on ages, he couldn't believe what he was staring at.

Yuma and Haruki were assisting Hokai and Miharu, while Kotori and Alit were checking up on Eika. Chris and Taimi were checking up on Eliphas and Ena, whose heads were bleeding. In front of Horus was Sei, her gun pointing towards the illuminating figure. Selena had her sword pointed at the same direction. Alan's twin blades were both raised, and he was panting loudly.

In front of all of them was Rinko, Salamandra on her hand, while the other was raised, preparing a fireball from above. Her hair was messy, and the ribbon she used to tie her hair with, was on the ground, ripped and burned. On the middle of the room was Astral, still shirtless, slightly unconscious, and his face scrunched up in pain. He seemed to be on the arms of the illuminated figure, who was dimming.

"You're an asshole." Rinko spat. "You put up a fight, haven't ya? For the last time, we will never hurt Astral. Those bastard leaders may have tested him or something, but in a way, my partner didn't do anything to hurt you. You freaking ass, lower your defenses, we're gonna lower ours. And maybe I won't burn you or kick you straight to hell, you little punk." She hissed.

The figure carefully placed Astral back on the floor, standing up. While the figure was completely white, Horus could see it seemed to have it's hair spiked up like Astral's, and it's eyes were luminous gold. The figure made a scoff, as the floating objects in the room slowly went down. Alan sighed in relief, slumping on the floor with a content look. "Good, you can understand us after all.."

Sei crossed her arms. "Thank goodness.. I would rather have my head rammed by Black Star's soldiers, than have my head rammed by a ton of books." She growled. Selena assisted her sister, and calmed her down.

Horus slowly stood up, wondering what just happened. The last thing he remembered was screaming for his mistress.. what the heck happened? Maybe he passed out..

_**"I cannot let them hurt the wielder of Numeron. That is my purpose in life." **_The figure clarified, waving his hands to emphasize his words. _**"They have hurt the wielder, which is a crime punishable by death. I cannot let them go unpunished." **_

Rinko glared at him. "We're one and the same, you ass. His brother told me to protect him, that's why I'm here. Mind you, I do not lie. And I most certainly don't like Eika, that's for sure." Stepping forward, she compared herself to the illuminating figure. "Stop glowing. It's hurting my eyes. You have a normal form, don't you? With all the shit I've seen and heard today, I won't be surprised if you do."

Alan placed his hand on Rinko's shoulder. "Rin-Rin.. after this, you need to rest. You're more cranky than usual, and you're swaying badly."

Rinko grunted. "Fine. Hey, flashlight. Turn the damn light off. Next, explain. Third, make yourself known to us. Especially Astral." She demanded. Turning her head a bit, she stared at the remaining members. "Yuma. You guys bring the leaders to the clinic. We'll explain everything afterwards. Kotori, please bring Horus with you for a check-up as well, alright? We'll stay here to ask this guy a few questions, maybe fix the room, and bring Astral to the clinic later."

Horus wanted to argue, but Kotori had already dragged him out of the room. Yuma lifted Ena by slinging her arm around his back, and Haruki did the same with Eika. As for Hokai, Taimi lifted him a bit with Alit's aid, and Chris did the same with Eliphas. Miharu was being carried by Kotori, whose hand was gripping Horus' arm.

When they left, Alan pulled what remained to be the sofa, and let Rinko sit on it, before sitting himself. Sei and Selena both sat on the edges, as the figure stopped floating, and allowed his feet to touch the ground. "First things first; what the hell are you?" Rinko asked bluntly.

The figure looked at her. **_"I am Chaos."_**

* * *

**Well this chapter barely had anything, besides a flashback and a new character, lol. XD**


	11. Chapter 11: Prince of Numeron

**-Heartland Warehouse-**

Lunar made sure to carry a flashlight with her whenever she went. Despite the fact that they had magic, the people at the warehouse might be able to sense the magical energy it was releasing. A flashlight was normal, plus they had wore costumes to prevent any outsider or enemy soldier to recognize who they are.

Instead of the typical Black Star uniform, Lunar was wearing a white polo shirt and a red jacket with golden buttons. Instead of wearing some skin-tight spandex pants, she was wearing a black skirt with white frills, black and white stockings, and black boots. According to Aristtea, it made her look more normal than a soldier. But just in case, she had a gun underneath her skirt, as her left hand carried the flashlight, her right hand carried her scythe. Siri decided to wear something casual as well. She was wearing a yellow, button-up shirt, royal blue pants, brown boots, and a black cap to hide her own face. On her hands wielded her spear, ready to stab anything that was deemed a threat to their mission.

Ethan went along with Aristtea's plan of pretending to be casual people. He was wearing a lime-green shirt, black trench-coat, a yellow scarf, black gloves, black pants, brown boots, and still wore his red-framed glasses. He was carrying his bow, and was readying an arrow, following Siri's plan of being ready to strike at the moment something tries to attack them. His emerald eyes gazed over to some of the wooden crates wearily, before he slowly moved to another direction. As for Dark, he was wearing the same clothes he wore when he was free; a gray shirt, black suspenders, black pants, black shoes, and a black scarf. He was also wearing his uniform's gloves, claiming he doesn't want his hands to get dirtied by blood. His right hand wielded his axe, as it was slung behind him. His left hand was clenched, preparing some magic.

On the top of the wooden crates was Azulon, chuckling to himself. "Huh. What pitiful little humans. Too bad it's not the original's team, and Mikey's not here to watch me burn them to ashes." He sighed. Raising his hand, a sphere of light formed. "Whatever. **Final Countdown**." The light then divided into multiple balls of light, until it already formed twenty spheres.

Lunar, hearing the creepy chuckling from Azulon, turned around with a wide-eyed expression. "Siri-san! Look out!" Five spheres had been directed to Lunar, but Dark used his axe to protect her. With a blush, Lunar readied her scythe, her stance defensive. "Thank you, Daruku-san.."

"Watch out!" Siri warned. "Dark! You and Lunar-chan team up!"

As three spheres attempted to knock down the eldest soldier, she barely managed to dodge them as her spear blocked them off. With a growl, she leaped up to the wooden crate Azulon was standing on. "Is Drage!" She addressed her spear. "**Magic Cylinder**!" Jars suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and started spitting out green beams at Azulon, who had dodged it without any effort.

"Myrjnevolt!" A wooden staff appeared in his hand. "Perfect timing, my beautiful weapon! Now, **Swords of Revealing Light**! Stab the enemy with your holy blades!" He shouted. Green swords materialized out of the spheres, and straight up stabbed Siri in the arm, who yelped.

Ethan gritted his teeth. "What the heck?! That was beyond fast! I didn't even see him dodge Siri-san's attacks!"

Dark readied his axe, but stopped as he stared at Azulon. He looked.. kinda like Astral. "Who.. are you?!"

With a grin, Azulon pointed the wooden staff at Dark's face, his look threatening. "If you must know, I am Azulon, one of the Shadow Guardians. We protect what is ours, and your brother seems to be the unluckiest!~" He raised on of his hands. "**Final Countdown**. Resume the ending of this horrible, tainted world. Wipe those who are impure."

Before anymore of the spheres of light could hit the soldiers, Azulon's hand was suddenly grabbed. "You idiot."

* * *

**-White Moon, Floor 99: The Leader's Office-**

"That does not explain shit." Rinko snapped. "Your name is Chaos? With all the bull I've seen today, that's the only tame thing I've experienced for the last ten hours. What the hell is your purpose, and how did you get here, Chaos?"

Chaos' appearance surprised the soldiers and the trainer, sure. He looked a bit like Astral, except his hair was light blue with black tints, and it was more wild than Dark's. His eyes were both gold, and his attire was the strangest. His shirt was black, but he was wearing a white vest with a weird symbol. He also wore black pants and boots, and was wearing black-framed glasses, like Horus. However, what stood out most was the marks on his face and arms. The fact that he wore dangling earrings doesn't make it any less odd, either. "My purpose is to guide the wielder of Numeron. I am a Shadow Guardian, a guardian of darkness, who takes those who belong to the light. Astral Mist, or as my people know him as, Prince of Numeron, is a being of light. However, he has possessed Numeron the moment he was born, and thus, must be brought to the darkness. The problem is.. he's too pure. I need to train him to be a proper king before bringing him to my world."

Astral was at Sei's lap, breathing harshly as Selena tended to the younger boy's wounds. With a glare, Sei tried to smack the mysterious entity without hurting Astral. "You think we can let that happen?! White Moon is after Astral, and we had no idea until Horus screamed! Just because we're part of White Moon, doesn't mean we want to stick with their sadistic plans! We want to get out of here, but we're not sacrificing any of our friends!" She growled, holding Astral's head close to her chest.

Alan decided to calm the furious girls. "Ladies, please. Calm down, especially you Rin-Rin." He turned to Chaos. "We don't quite understand much of how your world seems to work, Chaos-kun. The most interesting things about your short information is that you refer to Numeron's wielder as "Prince of Numeron". In the world you are from, it seems that you consider Asu-chan a member of royalty. From what I've heard, Astral is a normal human, with a human brother, who used to live in a normal house. No mentions of being part of royalty." Alan pointed out.

Chaos shook his head. "Numeron is a power that moves from an individual to another, once the person loses their pureness or dies." He explained. "The previous wielder had lost his pureness, because of his dark desire for power. Thus, passing the power on to Astral. In the world I am from, we devote ourselves into making a world without any malice. Astral was born for the sake of containing half of Numeron's power, to search for the relic where the remaining power of Numeron rests. He is nothing more than a doll with Numeron for a soul-"

Rinko didn't even realize her own fist had come in contact with Chaos' face. "You little punk, Astral is not just a doll that was born to satisfy your needs for a perfect world, you ass!" Chaos landed to the ground, holding his cheek. However, he showed no signs of fear. Rinko's eyes seemed to be burning with hatred. "You are implying that Astral's existence, up 'til now, was nothing more than being a pawn to your world's godly power?! Are you saying anything else he's done in his life is absolutely useless?!"

"In a way, yes." Chaos replied bluntly.

Alan immediately tore Rinko away from Chaos. "Rinko Yutora! Stop your barbaric behavior right now! Chaos! Listen to yourself!" He scolded, shocking the Arclight twins. Did the gray-haired actually scold the two of them as if they were children? He looked more serious than he was at training too. He then fixed Rinko's jacket with a frown. "That is not how a lady should act, nor is this how a lady should look. Chaos, that was downright rude. Your statement is obviously wrong!"

Selena seemed to wonder about Alan's current attitude. He seemed normal earlier, but now he was acting as if he was superior to both teens. "Alan-kun seems to have a point.." Selena spoke up. "If he was nothing more than a doll, all you have to do is extract Numeron out of his body. Then again, to govern your world, you need someone pure, like Asu-kun. Why can't you simply pick someone from your world who can properly lead yours?" Selena asked. "I mean, don't you have anyone in your world that actually sends you to grab Asu-kun? Or do you guys think that's your purpose in life?"

"If you agree to the latter, that world and it's inhabitants are stupid. If you guys materialize out of light or something, you immediately think your purpose is to kidnap humans? That is beyond stupid." Rinko snarled at Chaos. "And this world is no better. People in this world judge people if they are different, even by just a bit. I'd be glad to watch you burn this world into ashes, buuuuuut.. I'm not gonna let you do so."

"Our world was created by the numbers, see." Chaos explained, ignoring the stinging pain on his cheek. "Our leaders were previous wielders of Numeron, who managed to create perfect worlds, before they were inhabited by malice. In other words, humans. Our leaders are called Zexals, and are referred to as Zexals I, II, III, and Dark Zexal. Although, we recently started referring to them as Izeru, Nizeru, Sazeru, and Yazeru*. Anyhow, the previous wielder, Sazeru, has some unfinished plans, considering he created this world, the one with humans."

"So, Sazeru's basically a god?" Asked Alan.

Chaos nodded. "Yes. But Numeron had already picked a new wielder by the time he was turned into a Zexal. However, due to the humans being smart enough to be aware of the existence of numbers, Numeron has been split into two parts; Creation and Destruction. With the power of creation, the wielder is able to morph the world into their liking, revive those who have died, and even fix certain landscapes. With the power of destruction, one is able to destroy everything and murder people they wish to be erased from the world." He looked at Astral, who was starting to show signs of consciousness. "Numeron's powers have been separated from each other. The power to create is within the Numeron Code, a relic created by the numbers. The power to destroy is within him, the current Prince of Numeron." He pointed to the blue-haired.

"Are you saying that you're practically born to do this?" Asked Selena. Again, Chaos nodded.

Rinko made a huff. "Your life sucks beyond comprehension."

* * *

**-White Moon Clinic: Room 1F-**

When Eliphas awoke in his building's clinic area, he saw one of the trainers, Alit Lionheart, staring at him with a pout, angry eyes, crossed arms and legs, and an aura with the urge to kill. He brushed it off. He could murder this little twit any time he wanted, but Alit was a good trainer for the soldiers, particularly the weaker ones. Alexander (Although the kid bugged him to call him Alan instead) was the trainer for stronger soldiers. Alexander and Alit could have made good soldiers, but Ena didn't want them to, for some reason.

Alit stood up from his chair. "..Sir Eliphas, the other leaders are still unconscious. Do you require anything?" He asked, trying to maintain a polite tone. After hearing from Horus what they did to their friend, he had been trying not to murder their so-called leader in his sleep. Eliphas shook his head, returning back to his deep slumber. In which caused Alit to attempt to grab the same knife they used to cut Astral's arm with.

Alit left the room, encountering Yuma who looked pissed off and conflicted. "Hey, dude. What's the matter? Besides the whole "our-leaders-attempted-to-experiment-on-our-friend" thing. Y'know, just ignore my question." He sat beside the ruby-eyed teen, swinging his legs, and thinking of a way to lighten up the mood a little. Alit and Yuma were usually the optimistic ones, but due to Astral's "assault", Yuma wasn't feeling any respect towards any of the leaders. Not that he had any respect to the leaders of a company that kidnapped them, Ena was the only leader Yuma respected as far as Alit was concerned.

Astral was their best friend. Of course Yuma would be angry at the fact Ena had joined the four leaders in attempting to experiment on the frail boy. Thank goodness, Horus had explained to them the current situation; a power called Numeron, Astral has it, and the leaders try to find out how to extract it. But a power that was able to create and destory? _"Hoooooo-boy.. Astral has a ton'a weight on his shoulders. Hopefully, Rinko can help him with that. She's always treating him like a little brother."_

"Has one of them awoken?" Haruki entered the room with five bags of potato chips. He then gave the two bags to the younger soldiers, who were not grinning and being as optimistic as usual. "Rinko and the rest are still at the ruined office. Taimi-chan and Chris-kun are with Kotori-chan and Horus-kun, just to check if the little dragon has suffered any injuries. None, which was good, but they still have to check on any injuries, just to see if he ended up mentally.. retarded."

Alit opened his bag of chips, and munched on them. "Eliphas has woke up, but decided to go back to dreamland or whatever.. not that I care, look what he's done to Astral. Those guys still haven't come down yet, but I can practically hear Rinko's current use of profanity. And hear her summoning fireballs or something. Hey, don't forget to leave a bag of chips for her, she'll throw a tantrum if you don't share some."

* * *

***- _"Zeru" is from the word "Zearu", which means "Zexal" in english. "I" from "Izeru", is from the word "Ichi", which means "one". Likewise, "Ni" means "two", "sa" is from "san" which means "three", and "ya" is from "yami", which means "darkness". They are just words mixed with the name "zeru"._**

**Next chapter will be a special chapter! It'll be about the past of one of the characters. Try to guess who.~**

**The chapter after that will have something to do with what the hell happened to the Black Star soldiers.**

**Review if ya like!**


	12. Chapter 12: Story of the Tiny Bell

**-White Moon, Floor 15: Dormitory Section G-**

Alan entered his room, and plopped down on the bed. He removed the two purple feathers on his head, and placed them by his desk, along with his deck. With a sigh, he began to stare blankly at the ceiling. Chaos' appearance was sudden, but the current thing to do was wait until Astral wakes up. Sei and Selena were in charge of telling him what was going on. Next was hide the Prince of Numeron from the White Moon leaders, and the best way to hide was by making sure Chaos tagged along with him. Afterwards, they need to escape the building and just go around hunting numbers to find the Numeron Code.

The plan was; Astral and Chaos needed to escape the building. Yuma and Alit agreed to help with the plan, by often guarding Sir Eliphas and Sir Hokai. They also got assistance from a friend of Horus' and Sei and Selena's auntie, Layla Arclight. Kotori and Layla were to guard on Leaders Eika and Miharu. Christopher Hughes and Taimi decided to find easier ways to exit the building, without going through the main entrance or the rooftop-exit. The last part of the plan was the hardest, in which all teens decided to listen to; Rinko and Alan will have to assist Astral and Chaos with the escape and the number hunt.

Rebelling against one of the companies was suicide, but if Astral was able to destroy an entire office within seconds, it could be easier. That meant facing both companies, which was harder. Sei and Selena agreed to hide from the leaders until they find new replacements for the main team, considering the twins wanted to quit from their position already. Astral was automatically retired the moment he attempted to fight the Black Star soldier. Rinko? Her statement was simple.

**_"I'm not retiring nor quitting the position as a White Moon soldier. I'm just straight up leaving my position without a single damn. Tell them I hope they burn in hell for what they've done to Astral, and maybe I'll be the ones sending them there."_**

Alan chuckled. Rinko was always so blunt. Not like Chaos, who didn't even bother hiding the fact that he thought Astral was just a tool, but just blunt. She says what she wants, gets in trouble for it, and acts like it never happened. She was an interesting girl, foul-mouthed yes, but interesting nonetheless. Closing his eyes, he remembered one of his last few moments of freedom, before getting kidnapped by White Moon.

* * *

_Alexander Mako was the youngest son of the Mako Company's president. He had two siblings, a brother named Yoshielle Mako, and a sister, named Mirabelle Mako. Much to the confusion of every Mako-member, Alexander had began referring to Yoshielle and Mirabelle as "Yoshi" and "Murasaki" respectively. He also seemed to get upset whenever someone calls him "Alex" and prefers to be called "Alan" for an unknown reason. As of now, Alexander, or "Alan" as he prefers to be called, was on the Mako Mansion's living room, on the telephone._

_Yoshielle, or "Yoshi" as Alan would call him, made a scowl at his younger brother. Although they were triplets, Alan came out last, making him the youngest. "Should you not be looking for a date for father's party, Alexander?"_

_Alan frowned. "Hold up, Rin-Rin, I gotta talk to my brother." He said to the phone. He stared at Yoshi with un-amused eyes, and stuck out his tongue childishly. "You're pretty much just upset that father told you to escort our so-called 'lovely' sister. Wait a minute.." He turned away from Yoshi, and back to the phone. "Hey, Rin-Rin. Are you busy tonight?"_

**_"Huh? No. I told you, Kotori-chan and Katya-san are gone for a month. Katya-san was hesitant on leaving me behind for Kotori-chan's girl-scout summer-trip, but I can take care of myself just fine. It's boring at night. Why do you ask?"_**

_He made a sheepish grin to no one in particular. Yoshi raised an eyebrow. Who was "Rin-Rin"? Why is Alan interested in her? Last time he checked, there wasn't a girl in their class that Alan didn't throw bugs to. He had no idea who "Kotori" was either. Alan continued his chat with this "Rin-Rin", giggling. "You can turn me down if ya want to, but.. my father planned a party for celebrating my family company's success. I need a date and stuff. Oh! Father always has the snack bar at party! There are a ton of sweet there! The inside will be flower-free, I promise!"_

_The girl at the other line seemed unsure. **"Are you sure you're allowed to bring someone that's from a different school as you? Plus, I don't fancy wearing formal attires. Dresses hurt my body a lot. I'll go if you won't mind, and if you can lend me a suit." **She joked._

_Alan seemed happy. "I knew you'd wear a suit! Hehe! You're allowed to go! I'll pick you up later at hm.. seven, yeah? At the usual spot! The café where we always have snacks at! I'll have one of the servants send in one of my suits, okay? Hmm.. how about a blue suit with black and white colors? Sounds good?"_

**_"Better than a frilly pink dress, Alan. Thanks for the invitation. It's quite boring at my place without Kotori-chan and Katya-san. Plus, Astral ended up in the hospital.. Daruku's worried sick about him. Yuma and the rest are at vacations too."_**

_"Poor Asu-kun.." Alan muttered. "I hope he feels better soon.. Well, call you later, Rin-Rin! Oh! And wear the bell I gave you! And your black gloves too!" He hung up with a contented look on his face. Immediately, he ran to his and Yoshi's shared room, in which Yoshi followed. He saw his brother taking out a blue suit, inspecting it before smiling brightly. "This is brand-new.. mother keeps buying me new suits. I like my gray one better. This might fit Rin-Rin perfectly! And it has long sleeves too! Where's Alfred? Alfred!"_

_As Alan called for their butler, Yoshi crossed his arms. "What were you thinking? Not only are you inviting a girl that is not from our school, but you're making her wear a suit? What is she? A man? And did you give her the family bell?!"_

_Alan glared at him. "She can't wear dresses, haven't you heard? I think it has something to do with the bruises on her body.. hm, she did tell me he has bruises on her arms and legs, and even her hips. Poor Rin-Rin. It'll hurt her body if she wears something as tight as a dress." He folded the suit. "And yes. I gave her the family bell. Mother told me to give it to a girl I like. So, Rin-Rin has it. She likes it, which makes me happy.~"_

_Yoshi looked as if Alan stepped on a puppy. "According to father, you only give the bell to a **potential bride**! You want someone as tomboyish as her to be your bride?! For all I know, she could be fooling you!"_

_"Bug off, Yoshi!" He growled. "She's my first friend, and I like her a lot! She doesn't force me to release all the bugs I've caught, and not once has she ever called me a disgrace! Unlike you, unlike Mirabelle, unlike mother, and unlike father, she gives me options to choose from!" He yelled. Immediately, the elderly butler, Alfred, arrived with a worried look on his face. In order to spare Alfred from getting a heart attack, Alan marched to him and gave him the suit. "Go to Sandrose Street #24, there's a colorful house there that sticks out like a sore thumb. Give this suit to a girl named Rinko Yutora, she's wearing the family bell."_

_Alfred smiled. "Master Ale- I mean, Master Alan. Could it be that you found a bride at your age?"_

_Alan shrugged. "You guys are romance suckers. I gave her the bell as a thank-you gift. I could have died if she didn't save me. Oh, and drive me later to Heartland Mall later. I need to pick her up for the party. It's better for me to pick her up, 'cuz people might harass her on her way here. She'll beat them to pulp, and we can't have that now, can we? She'll ruin her own clothes before the party." He joked._

_As Alfred left the room, Yoshi gritted his teeth. "She's a bad influence! She's the reason you're so fixated on the name 'Alan'! She's the reason you learned how to use such vulgar language!" He yelled. "Alexander Mako! You are no longer allowed to see this Rin-Rin! She is nothing more than a bad seed!"_

_Alan glared at him again. "Oh, and what place are you in? Why the hell should I listen to you, Yoshielle?" He asked, hands on his hips. "Y'know, it's your fault. It's all your fault, Yoshielle. Why am I like this? Look at yourself. You're the perfect child mother and father always wanted, so why don't you go exist in their minds, and not mine? Because I simply don't care. The people from Heartland Academy are nicer and much more fun to be with. Your existence and Mirabelle's existence is giving me an absolute headache." He replied, stomping away._

_Mirabelle, or as Alan called her "Murasaki" for her purple eyes and hair, peeked inside with her usual timid expression. "Brother? Yoshielle, what is..?"_

_Yoshi rubbed his forehead. "Nothing. Go prepare yourself for the party tonight, sister."_

* * *

_"Yoshielle?" Yoshi's mother approached him. "Dear, do you know the girl that your brother has bought? I saw her by the entrance, but Alexander immediately dragged her somewhere else. Shame. I was wanting to know who Alexander's friend was." She sighed. The mansion was now full of people, often dancing and chatting. Yoshi, however, was trying to calm down his aching head._

_Yoshi put his glass of water down. "She is most certainly not a friend. Alexander gave her the family bell." He stated. "Mother, why did you hand over the family bell to Alexander? He gave it to a random girl, and she is not even in our school!"_

_His mother frowned. "Well.. Alexander isn't normal in terms of personality and hobbies, as you know. I wanted him to have a friend. The bell isn't just a sign of proposal for marriage, you know. It can also mean the start of friendship. Is that the reason she was wearing the bell? Oh, you should introduce yourself to her. She might mistake you for Alexander. It was odd that she was wearing the suit I bought for Alexander but.. oh well." As she left, Yoshi hear some chattering._

_"Over here! C'mon, the snack bar's just ahead!"_

_"Ugh, I'm dying. The smell of mixed perfume and wine is murdering my sense of smell. I can't cook anything at this rate."_

_"We're not gonna cook anyway, Rin-Rin. There are tons of sweets! C'mon, before the others eat 'em up!"_

_Murasaki tapped Yoshi's shoulder. As her nickname suggested, she wore a purple dress with magenta frills. On her hair was a red ribbon, and some of her hair was braided. "Um, mother told me to tell you that we should introduce ourselves to Alexander's.. date..?" She was unsure. Friend? Date? Comrade? Was that a boy? Or was that a girl in a suit?_

_"Friend." Yoshi corrected. "Friend and nothing more."_

_Alan took out a small plate and started piling up random food on it; crackers, marshmallows, and strawberries. "Next, we pour chocolate all over them!" He grinned. However, his grin faltered as he noticed his siblings approaching. He tried to keep his goofy grin on his face, because Rinko would.. worry? No, she would leave if she noticed Yoshi didn't like her presence. Alan silently took the platter to the chocolate fountain, before handing it to Rinko. "Rin-Rin, here you go! E-Enjoy the sweets, they're free and all!"_

_Rinko, as expected, actually wore the suit. While it did earn a lot of weird looks, it actually fitted perfectly. Taking a toothpick, she stabbed a chocolate-covered marshmallow, eyeing Alan suspiciously. "Alan? The hell's gotten into you? You're never this quiet." She commented._

_Yoshi took a deep breath, and approached Rinko. In his opinion, she looked more of a male, so the suit was fitting in both ways. Her eyes were as brown as the chocolate Alan covered the snacks in, and her hair was the same color as fire. Strange. "Hello. I am Yoshielle Mako, Alexander's older brother. This is our older sister, Mirabelle Mako. We are pleased to meet a f-friend of Alexander's. I take it you are this 'Rin-Rin' he's been talking about?"_

_Rinko tilted her head a bit, causing her ponytail to sway. Yoshielle looked a bit like Alan, and Mirabelle.. ugh, was all the purple necessary? It burns her eyes. Nevertheless, she needs to at least act nice. __Even though she hates every fiber of Yoshielle's being already. "..My name is Rinko. Rinko Pyra Mikoron-Yutora, commonly known as Rinko Yutora. Pleased to meet you." She introduced herself._

_Alan forced another fake smile. "Ahahaha. Those are my.. wonderful siblings! Say, Rin-Rin, let's look for the bug I.. accidentally released!" It was no accident. Yoshi had managed to release all of Alan's captured bugs. Naturally, Alan had to hunt for them again. It might take a few hours. "It'll be alright if you mess up my suit! Let's go out the garden!"_

_Rinko seemed to cringe. "S-Sorry.. I'll watch. Your garden.. is full of flowers.." She shook her head. "Sorry. You know how much I hate flowers. My skin reacts weirdly to them, it's as if it's burning. In return, the flowers wilt. They're bastards."_

_Alan nodded. "Ah. You must be allergic. No worries. I'll help you!"_

* * *

Alan opened his eyes. He couldn't remember much after that, he didn't know why. All he remembered was catching bugs, Rinko sitting at the stairs while eating nearly everything at the snack-bar, and Yoshi screaming at him about.. something.

Alan sat up. Why.. couldn't he remember anything? What was going on?

Wait.. what was his real name again..? Alan.. Alex.. Alexander! "Dammit. I'm losing myself." He cursed. "I can't let go of my past, but I can't keep clinging onto it. If I cling onto it, I'll kill myself. But if I let it go.. I might end up like Astral.."

* * *

**-White Moon, Floor 12: Dormitory Section D-**

"The plan will soon set in motion. Sei and Selena are already explaining it to Astral." Reported Chaos. Like Horus, Chaos needed a change of clothes. In his case, Chris loaned him some. "The next thing we need is for Christopher and Taimi to search for another way out."

"Good." Rinko commented, unwrapping her lollipop. "Tch. I really hoped it wouldn't come to this. Thanks for helping us out, Chaos."

Chaos nodded. "I should thank you for asking those questions. I really didn't know what I was doing, until Alexander asked me." He confessed. "Oh. I almost forgot. Rinko. You have a gift from Pyra."

Rinko raised an eyebrow. "..I'm Pyra. That's my other name."

Chaos shook his head. "No. Pyra the Flame Goddess. She is a number, and your guardian. She told me that you won't be able to defeat both companies."

"What?!" Rinko stood up. "I can take them on any time!"

"No you cannot. Pyra has a gift to help you with your situation." He took out his hand. "Rinko. Take out the Horus-Archetype from your deck."

Rinko was hesitant. Hokai did the same earlier with Uria, but Chaos too? "Why..?"

"Your cards. They are lifeless. With cards that are like that, you won't be able to win at all. The card that one of the leaders gave you is Uria, Lord of Searing Flames. Your trap cards are a bit reckless too, and if you were to summon Uria, chances are, your sacrifices will be in vain. Give me your deck, take out Horus' cards." He ordered.

Rinko took out her entire deck, before sliding out three of Horus' cards. As she handed her deck to Chaos, a bright light suddenly appeared, causing her deck to disappear. Before she could punch him for burning her deck, another one appeared in his hand. He handed the deck to her. "Pyra has sent her minions to help you. She wants you to save the numbers. Don't forget to put Horus in there." He said, before walking out.

Rinko inspected the new deck, surprised that some of her trap and spells were there. However, the monsters were different. "..Flame Mistress? The hell?"

* * *

**Welp. I gave Rinko a brand-new deck, considering she is in the Xyz-Universe. "Flame Mistress" is an archetype created by me, and I'll give you guys a duel scene soon, with Rinko's new deck! **


	13. Chapter 13: Great Escape

**-Heartland Warehouse-**

"Bad, bad, bad! How many times do I have to tell you why your plans are wrong?!" Mike started to whack Azulon on the head with a paper fan. The emerald-eyed boy had appeared before Azulon could blow up the Black Star soldiers. Apparently, Mike had just wandered off to search for something to eat ("Even Shadow Guardians get hungry, remember?"), and wasn't pleased when he found Azulon attempting to kill their "clients". Mike didn't want to slap Azulon with the bag of bread and cake he stole, so the paper fan will do for now. "We cannot kill them! Even if you are only _defending _yourself, you could have turned into your other form!"

Azulon whined. "But in our other form, we're nakeeeeed! Plus, I can't play around with this human body if I'm at that form." He huffed, arms crossed. "It was an accident, reeeeeeeeally! I thought it was the Prince of Numeron, I have no idea if Chaos even did his job right!"

Siri's arm had been treated by Mike himself. To her surprise, it only took him a second, just by placing his palm on Siri's arm. Lunar didn't suffer any injuries, but as a sign of apology, Mike had given her five of the bread and cakes he had collected and even prepared some tea. Dark was demanding answers earlier, and Mike promised to answer all of them after he disciplined Azulon. Ethan however, was cleaning his glasses and his friends' weapons, not caring and humming a tune happily.

After Mike had finished smacking Azulon, he turned to Dark. The black-haired boy was angry for being assaulted, and was somehow angry that Azulon looked like Astral. Nevertheless, he had made a promise to help the poor boy, along with Ethan. "Ah, sorry for taking so long! I am at fault for Azulon attacking you, because if I haven't left this _idiot _behind, none of this would have happened. I am Mike. Mike Karolian. This is my companion, Azulon Mist."

Dark slammed his hands on one of the wooden crates that Mike had been using as a table of some sort. The teacups rattled a bit, and Lunar yelped as her tea nearly spilled onto Siri's arm, which was on the crate. "I don't remember having that psycho for a relative!" He pointed a finger at Azulon, who was grinning smugly. Angered, Dark took Ethan's cake, and slammed it onto Azulon's smug face.

"Daruku! I was eating that!" He whined.

Mike pulled a replacement for Ethan's lost pastry, and gave him a cup of tea. "In a way, he is your brother. And even though my last name is quite american, I'm Ethan's brother, in a way as well." He explained. Like the cake to Azulon's face, he came in contact with Ethan's tea. Specifically, he spat out the tea straight to Mike's already stressed face. Siri, lightly smacking both Dark and Ethan's heads for assaulting Mike and Azulon with food, gave Mike a tissue while mumbling an apology. Azulon was licking the cake off his own face without a care in the world. Lunar was guiltily laughing at the boys' antics, covering her mouth with her hand.

Azulon decided to aid Mike. "In a way, we're related. Not biologically, you twits." He stuck his tongue out, deflecting a plate that Dark threw with his hand, causing it to shatter on the floor. "We're, in a literal way, not from this world, see! We're Shadow Guardians, also referred to as Numeron Guardians! We practically take form of an existing organism, buuuuut.. we're failures when it comes to it, so we pretty much faaaaaaaaaaaaailed."

The soldiers looked confused. Mike decided to speak up. "Ah, see.. Numeron is a power that is able to both create and destroy-"

**"I don't give a crap." **Dark bluntly replied. "Numeron is a power. There. So, why are you here? I don't care what the hell Numeron is, or what it does. If it destroys this world, I won't care. What are you doing here? I don't think any of the companies requested _aliens _to interfere. Unless you have numbers, you're basically useless to me, you know."

"Ruuuuuude." Azulon pouted. Turning to Mike, he puffed his cheeks. "He's rude. Hey." He looked at Ethan, then pointed at Dark again, still looking at Ethan. "Your friend? He's sooooooo ruuuuuuude." He kept this on and on, until Mike shut him up by whacking him with the same paper fan he used to smack him with earlier. Azulon yelped, pouted, glared at Mike, before crossing his arms. "Just sayin'."

Mike sighed. Dark was more stubborn than he thought. And not wanting to here about Numeron? What a bro-con. "If you want your brother to live, you need to know what Numeron is." For the first time in a thousand years, Mike hissed and his eyes glowed red for a second. He wasn't going to spend another thousand years in earth grabbing forms of existing organisms just to wait for Numeron's new wielder. The Original was just one step away, and the soldiers in front of him were the ones that ruined his plans. "Listen here, you filthy human, I am not going to spend another thousand years in this dirt-ball just to wait for Numeron's new wielder to be born. So much false alarms in the past centuries, you have no idea how ecstatic I was when your dear little brother was born."

Instead of being terrified (Like Lunar who had clung to Siri, who was becoming wary of the two Guardians), Dark had stood up and Ethan did as well, not caring if the tea spilled again. Instead of whining and being childish, Azulon simply grinned and made a face waving his arms. "The world was doomed to begin with. Master Sazeru created the world with humans, and he's gonna get rid of it."

"WHAT?! WHY?!" Both Siri and Lunar exclaimed.

"Because, this world is tainted, filled with such disgusting filth. We realized that humans are nothing more than mistakes, so the previous wielders of Numeron decided to get rid of you, and make a better world. One without humans." Mike replied. Without a warning he released a wave of energy, and their weapons suddenly turned back into their original forms, a shade of gray. "Your weak weapons won't work anymore, earthly scum. Azulon. Transport us to the Black Star building."

"Right-o!" Azulon made a "peace" sign with his fingers, before disappearing with Mike. "See ya knuckleheads at judgement day!"

The soldiers stood up. However, as Mike said, their weapons were unresponsive. It was as if they were turned into stone. "Crap.." Siri cursed under her breath. "We need to tell Sir Don Thousand! Gah! That emerald-eyed moron disabled our weapons, and I didn't even br"

* * *

**-White Moon, Floor 0: Basement-**

"I'm.. Numeron's wielder..? And I'm gonna have to rebel against the company..?" Astral repeated. Waking up in a table wasn't funny, especially after you passed out on one. He found himself wearing Chris' jacket for some reason, but according to the twins, his shirt had been burned off, and it wasn't Rinko who burned it. Burned, stained with blood, ripped.. you get the picture. Chris has loaned Astral his jacket after the twins carried him to the most forgotten floor in the building, because according to Horus, all humans had a peculiar smell.

They heard that from Uncle Michael that Spirit Partners were like animals. And after a bit of research earlier, Kotori had told them something interesting.

_**"The leaders don't have spirit partners, besides Leader Eika. If Spirit Partners were to act like animals around humans, I suggest we find something to hide Astral's scent, as Horus suggested. Eika's spirit partner is a wolf, but it isn't around often. If they found out about our plan, no doubt she's gonna summon her spirit partner. Considering it is a wolf.. oh n-no.. um.. hide Astral quick. Give him something to cover his scent."**_

_**"I got this. Here. Give Astral my jacket."**_

They didn't have to be a genius. Considering Chris was older than the rest of the boys in their circle of friends, he had a "scent which is different from younger people", according to Horus and Krebons. Another thing was that Eika was practically insane and her spirit partner was a wolf. A dog. Something that could track down scents and kill someone, regardless of age, as long as their master or mistress wanted it.

Well, shit. "Yes. Keep the jacket on, Horus warned us about hiding your scent. Rinko and Alan will help you and Chaos escape the building, alright? Afterwards, you guys will need to survive. We'll use some of our aunt's equipment to keep in contact with you. In secret, naturally. We're gonna have to make use of this room, it's the only floor of the building with no cameras. Plus, no one goes here much." Sei explained.

Selena nodded. "But it'll be hard to pretend we're still loyal to them, but we're doing this for your sake."

"Hey, yo."

From the stairs (because if it was an abandoned and useless floor, who needs elevators?), was Rinko, Alan, and Chaos. Strangely enough, they weren't wearing their uniforms, and Chaos wasn't wearing Chris' clothes anymore. The three of them wore a black jumpsuit, a black ninja-mask, and black shades. Rinko still had her hair tied into a ponytail, Alan still had his feathers on his head, and for some reason, Chaos' hair was also tied a bit back. By a pink ribbon. Probably Kotori's.

"Hey, we're done here. Aunt Layla told me and Selena to go act normal, you know? Hope we've done our part right."

Rinko nodded. "Yeah you did. Thanks a lot. Even though we just met today, you guys are pretty handy to have around. Don't get captured, alright?" She threw a shirt at Astral. "Here. It's Yuma's. He wanted you to have this as a good-luck present of some sort. Wear it, it has Yuma's scent." She turned back to the twins. "Go. Now. Alit and Kotori are stalling the five maniacs. Horus is guarding the stairs, along with Chris. Taimi and Yuma are waiting for us at the exit. We found one."

The twins nodded, running towards the stairs. "When this is all over, can we still be friends?" Asked Selena.

Rinko made a smile, which seriously freaked Sei. The demon just smiled! She just freaking smiled! "Yeah, sure. See ya. Don't get killed. Once you get up the stairs, run to the elevator. Go to a random floor, just as long as it's away from us. We don't want the leaders crushing you for helping after all."

Sei gripped her sister's hand. "Mm'kay. One.. two.. three!" The twins dashed out of the basement, not looking back. A faint "ding" sound was heard, and more footsteps. Astral wore Yuma's shirt, which was a pink shirt with red stripes and long white sleeves. Putting on Chris' jacket, he looked at Rinko. "Isn't.. this beyond dangerous? If we were to fail.."

Chaos shook his head. "Nonsense. I can only teleport to floors I've been before. The closest place I could teleport is Alan's room."

Alan nodded. "Right. My room is the closest to the elevator. The only path to the exit is via the building's training room. Most soldiers are probably asleep by now, minus our friends. We need to keep quiet."

* * *

**-White Moon (Multiple Floors)-**

"This is yellow-spider. I've come across a couple little boys earlier. I just kinda lied to them about me and Alan-kun's pet spiders getting lose, and they've scrambled back to their own rooms. Caught any sight of the leaders?"

"This is little-bird. Ena was the first to leave. Eika hasn't noticed anything odd, which is good. We can't risk her finding out. She'll summon her spirit partner, and we're all doomed if that happens."

"Hey, this is gemini-one. We already done our part of the plan. Plan B is in motion, little-dragon is with them. Crap. We passed by Miharu. He asked if we were fine after today's hunting. What a bastard, looking like a twelve year old and all."

"Hello, this is demonic-knight. I passed by Leader Ena earlier. She was wondering where Astral was. I told her he was having a snack with Yuma at Floor 9. Fiery-fiend and the others are currently at Floor 89. They are close."

"This is fiery-lion. Our stalling was a bit of a mess. Eliphas got annoyed and pushed me aside. What an ass. He's looking for Astral. I can tell he's not happy that their experimenting session on him was interrupted. He's heading to the elevator."

"Emergency! This is dark-horse! Hokai is nowhere to be found! I repeat! Hokai is-"

"Oh my god, shut up, Yuma!"

* * *

"So this is where you've been." A deep voice said. "To think you'd abandon your uniforms. Who is at the other line, Miss Yutora?" Hokai asked, removing his mask slowly. Astral nearly screamed as he saw Hokai summoning something from the ground. However, his summoning was interrupted by Ena, who ran over to him, her arms spread out. "Ena?!"

"Hokai! Taimi Shikuro has found the secret exit! You deal with her! I'll deal with Rinko-chan and these brats!" She readied her duel disk. "I'm in a higher position than you, Hokai! So you better listen to me! Go catch Taimi!" She ordered. It was either Ena was thinking Taimi was a bigger threat than Chaos, or she wasn't thinking that Astral and the others would escape.

Hokai nodded. "Yes ma'am."

As Hokai left the scene by running to the elevator, Rinko readied her duel disk. As she took out her D-Gazer, she turned to Alan. "Alan! You bring Chaos and Astral to Taimi! If you encounter Hokai, show him no mercy!" She then turned to her dragon. "Horus. Stay. We're gonna duel this witch."

"B-But Rinko-san..!"

Chaos immediately carried Astral to the stairs with Alan giving Rinko one last look, considering the elevator was occupied at the moment. Rinko cut off the transmission with Yuma and the rest, and placed her D-Gazer on her eye. _"Chaos.. this deck you gave me better work. If I lose, I swear, I'll have both Alan and Horus kick your ass."_

Ena gritted her teeth. "You don't know the danger you're putting Asu-kun in! We only want him to-"

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up." Rinko hissed. "You claim to help him, but end up trying to experiment on him?! You sick bastard, I'll burn you for what you did to Astral! Let's duel!"

* * *

**Next chapter will be a duel scene between Ena and Rinko! Yaaaay! If you manage to know who's who with those codenames they were using, you must be very smart, lol. The reason I put "multiple floors" was because they were all separated on different floors, and you don't expect me to write all that! :D**

**I've been busy playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. I named my player, which is a Vulpix, Rinko. And my partner is a Riolu named Alan lol. We are called "Team White Moon"! XD**

**Next chapter; Rinko duels against Ena. Sei and Selena challenge Miharu and Hokai to a physical fight, to protect Taimi. Eika sends out her wolf to hunt for Astral, Chaos, and Alan. Taimi, Chris, Layla, Kotori, and Alit fight Eliphas at once. Dark and Ethan discover about Rinko's files. Siri and Lunar are trained by Aristtea and a Black Star trainer named.. Yoshi?**

**Review if ya like!**


	14. Chapter 14: Mistress of Fire

**-White Moon, Floor ?-**

Rinko was pissed, and she was fuming so hard, that the steam could practically be seen. "We are seriously gonna duel in this floor right now you scumbag. I don't care if the other soldiers attempt to kill me for disobeying your orders and being a traitor, but I want outta this hell hole and I want out NOW otherwise I'll go crazy again." Rinko added. Her duel disk was it's usual appearance; shaped like a flame, black and orange. Her D-Gazer was the same too; shaped like a flame, orange, with circular, yellow lenses. "We fight by my special rule, lady; both players start with eight thousand life points instead of four thousand. Capiche?" Horus, who was beside her, dissolved into sparkles, as she felt his spirit go into her new deck. Chaos better have done something right for once in his life.

Ena's duel disk was light blue, and it was in the shape of a crescent moon, with green crystals. To Rinko's surprise, Ena placed her fingers on one of her eyes, causing a tattoo-like mark to appear, and one of her yellow eyes turned green. The tattoo was blue and was shaped like a moon as well. "Alright. You must be the mastermind of this little escape plan, so I have to beat you myself in order to make up for not guarding the soldiers, Rinko-chan."

"Whatever floats your boat, lady luck. Duel!"

_**Turn 1**_

_Rinko, LP- 8000, Hand- 5_

_Ena, LP- 8000, Hand- 5_

"I go first as always! I draw my card!" Rinko inspected the cards in her hand. They were all Fire-Type monsters that she wasn't familiar with, but she was relieved when she saw Horus' card. The second stage of his dragon form, to be specific. She couldn't possibly summon her ace in the next turn, unless she was familiar with the cards. "Tch..I set one monster card face down! I set one card face down, and turn end! Your move, Ena! There's no turnin' back!"

_**Turn 2**_

_Rinko, LP- 8000, Hand- 4_

_Ena, LP- 8000, Hand- 5_

"My turn, I draw." Ena looked at her cards. "I summon my Astralian Warrior Zuvan in attack mode. I can summon this monster if my opponent has a monster on her field, and I don't."

_**Astralian Warrior- Zuvan, LV 5, ATK- 1800, DEF- 2400**_

"I use my monster to attack your face-down card!"

"Oh, shit.."

_**Flame Mistress Vahni, LV 4, ATK- 100, DEF- 1900**_

_Ena, LP- 7900, Hand- 4_

"Ah..?!" Ena looked in shock. The deck Rinko was using.. wasn't the deck she used to duel with Astral! She didn't possess a Level Four monster with such high defense, Rinko was beyond reckless! Where the heck did she get that monster in the first place?! She studied Rinko's deck, and it certainly wasn't this one!

"For once.. I'm glad to have a monster with high defense rather than attack.." Rinko fell to the floor, panting in relief. God, she nearly died from terror and tension. Although Chaos didn't even give her a chance to study her new deck, she was glad that whoever Pyra was, she gave her a monster with high defense. "Sweeeeeeeeet relief.. feels like I just went through puberty again." She sighed, before standing up. "Okay, that was a pure random outburst, but it's good and all, I'm good, I can go on. Deep breath, don't want to die right now.." She gripped her tiny bell necklace. "Alan said to take deep breaths and listen to the bell whenever you feel stressed..haaaaaaaaaa..'Kay.." She stretched. "Alright, I'm better."

"Hmph. I set two cards face down, turn end. And now Zuvan's effect activates. After this card attacks, it'll flip itself to face-up defense position." Ena watched as her card turned, and she made a scowl at Rinko.

"Trap activate. Chain Burst. Whoever activates a trap card will get 1000 damage, regardless of how badly you need that damn trap. It'll still activate regardless, though.." Rinko announced. "God, I'm as freaking paranoid as Astral now. Damn it, Chaos. Should'a at least gave me a damn tutorial on how ta use this stupid-ass deck with random monsters.."

_**Turn 3**_

_Rinko, LP- 8000, Hand- 4_

_Ena, LP- 7900, Hand- 4_

"My turn! Draw!" Looking at her hand once more, she felt something in her extra deck. "The hell is this..?"

Checking it, there was only one card. An Xyz monster. She took the card and inspected it, her eyes widening. _"A.. number?! How did this get in my deck?! Huh?! Pyra.. The Flame Goddess? The same one who gave me this deck?! IT'S A DAMN NUMBER!" _Her mouth curling into a frown, she sighed heavily. She better not regret this decision. She hated numbers, but she was desperate to win. For her friends. For Taimi, Haruki, Chris, Yuma, Alit, Kotori, Sei, Selena, Astral, Horus.. and Alan. Definitely Alan. "I summon Flame Mistress Kenna in attack mode!"

**_Flame Mistress Kenna, LV 4, ATK- 1500, DEF- 500_**

"I never had this stupid card in my extra deck. I wonder what the hell Chaos did to my fusion and synchro monsters and my Polymerization card's missin'.. Screw that, I overlay my Level Four Flame Mistress Vahni and Flame Mistress Kenna! Xyz Summon!" She extended her arm as a swirling portal appeared and absorbed the two monsters on the field.

Ena gasped. The overlay network wasn't red, signifying it wasn't a normal Xyz monster. It looked like a number's overlay network! She widened her eyes. "How did you get your hands on a number, Rinko?! The number cards are stored in a safe place!"

An orange number mark appeared on Rinko's right palm, which was gloved. She looked at it confusingly, before screaming in pain. Her head started to throb horribly, but she held her head high and gritted her teeth as the mark continued to burn into her skin, eventually ripping out her right glove. "I don't know and I don't care! Whatever I need to beat you is worth the freaking pain, Ena! I Xyz Summon! Come out, the goddess of flames, and burn my enemy into ashes! Come forth,** Nymber 24:** **Pyra the Flame Goddess**!"

* * *

"Stop. We can't let you go any further than this, _sir._" The mocking tone was obvious, and it rolled of Sei's tongue without hesitation. Her gun was on one hand, and her jacket was tied on her waist tightly. Her hair was also tied into a ponytail, thanks to Kotori's generosity of lending some of her numerous ribbons. "We were supposed to keep this escape operation a secret, but you just had to wake up and ruin everything. We're not gonna let you hurt them anymore." Sei added.

Miharu blinked, his eyes faking innocence and his short stature giving him an appearance of a lying, helpless child. "Um.. okay then? What's wrong with you two girls? Are you sure you're alright after today's number hunt? Maybe your head's been whacked at the Chaos Zone." He asked, trying to keep as calm as possible. He wasn't feeling well after Chaos' attack, and his green marble seemed to be damaged from the impact. He wouldn't be able to fight without a weapon, and those two were strong when together. "Maybe you two need to drink some hot tea and-"

"Battle. Ready. Now." Sei interrupted. "Selena. Get ready, 'cuz this is gonna be one heck of a battle, and I need my sister to be with me in case I go overboard. You're the calmer one, ne?" She grinned at her twin. "You will.. stay by my side, right, Selena?"

"Yes, my sister! It doesn't matter if we get caught, as long as we are together, we can feel each other's pain!"

* * *

"Rin-Rin, answer me please! I need to know if you're feeling alright!" Alan yelled at his D-Gazer. He had gotten contact with Rinko, but the first thing he saw was his friend on the floor, writhing in pain, as an orange aura form on her hand. "Rinko! Rinko! Please, you gotta escape the floor right now, soldiers are alarmed of the freaking chaos! The hell did you just summon a number for?! Eliphas practically told them to chase down traitors, and we're heading to the freakin' elevator while avoiding attention!" He yelled. It was rare when Alan would turn from happy and optimistic, to very serious and mature. He wasn't fond of using profanity and he was on the verge of cursing, but he was worried and was raised to not do such things. He glared at Chaos, who was carrying a half-asleep Astral with him.

Alan flicked his fingers a bit and the elevator's doors opened automatically. He hastily pressed a random button as the elevator closed.

Alan made sure to keep his voice down to keep Astral from waking up and freaking out that will surely trigger his scary powers, but it was still filled with venom and hatred, with slight worry. "You were the one who gave Rinko that dangerous deck! Are you out of your damn mind?! Numbers are extremely harmful to us humans, unless they are the wielder of Numeron, you ass! Rinko is a huge part of this plan, she's practically a portion of it, and we need to know how she does it and how does she force herself to control it!" He screamed.

Chaos seemed unfazed by his quite childish outburst, but blinked curiously. "..Excuse me..Mako-san?"

"Rinko isn't the wielder of Numeron, but she can use magic oh-so naturally! I always wanted to know why, why it was causing her.. such immense pain!" Without a warning, he knocked Chaos against the elevator's walls, causing Astral to slightly stir from the noise. Chaos felt no pain, but Alan leaned in closer, eyes glaring at him. "Why is it so hard..? To wish for Rinko to stop feeling pain?! _WHY IS IT SO HARD, CHAOS?! HUH?!_"

Astral's eyes snapped open and he looked at Chaos, stoic as ever, with Alan, who was now gritting his teeth. Anger.. it was a rare emotion for someone as bright as Alan, and it was as rare as Yuma wishing someone would die. But.. Alan was a rare case. He used to be so upset, quiet.. but Rinko was his best friend, his first friend, and a few years ago, she was his only friend. The concern he held for her was more than the concern he held for himself or others. And he couldn't answer the poor boy's question. "I am sorry." Was the only thing he said.

Alan started sniffling, rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. "Whatever.. we're on the floor, Chaos. Hold Astral, I'll check if there's anyone on the floor." He held the D-Gazer close to his ear. "Rinko, forfeit the duel. Now."

Rinko was heard cursing. "What?! But-"

"No buts, Rinko. Chaos, if you were able to destroy a room in one go, you'll be able to destroy a floor in a matter of seconds. Rinko.. you know what to do. Burn the entire floor if you have to. If Ena gets injured, it's her own fault. Once you get here, I want you to use your real deck instead of the one Chaos gave you." He interrupted. Astral no longer recognized Alan as the second youngest of their circle of friends. The panic had made him act different and gain some sort of authority.

He didn't seem like Alan anymore.

* * *

**I'M STILL ALIVE. OKAY MAYBE I LIED IN THE PREVIEW, BUT THAT'S FOR FUTURE CHAPTERS. ****I AM SO SORRY I HAVEN'T BEEN ACTIVE.**


	15. I AM SO SORRY

**Hey guys. Sorry for not updating as much as I used to. But I kind of lost inspiration to type this anymore. I'm just keeping it around, but in case I ever want to get back to typing TMOFTKON, I will.**


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